Rebels
by moonlight gal
Summary: They were all severe victims of harsh reality, with facades to cloak their internal scars. They may cover up in different ways: shyness, indifference, harshness, popularity, playing with hearts, but had the same view on life deep inside. Amuto, Rimahiko
1. Chapter 1: One Single Rose

**Disclaimer: I do not own Shugo Chara :)**

"Ah, so you _dumped_ her, huh?" A midnight-blue haired 18-year old boy with striking yellow, cat-like eyes confirmed in an easy tone, lazily leaning back on his chair with both legs comfortably resting on his desk.

"She _was _a cute one, nya..." he continued in a somewhat accusing tone, before sighing hopelessly."Still though... I guess she lasted longer than usual, no?"

"Yeah?" Another 18-year old, slightly taller than the previous one, grunted. He closed his hypnotizing, sharp, dark blue eyes in arrogance, and idly tilted his head backwards, ignoring the hustle bustle and the sound of students scattering about and gossiping. He adorned the same school uniform as the other boy: black pants, a black-coloured high-neck shirt with a typical uniform tie. "It's not like she would've have lasted that long anyway..."

The yellow-eyed boy sighed exasperatedly, leaning towards the pale, raven-haired boy in front of him. "Oh, please, Ikuto! She was, like, _gorgeous_, dude! If _you _didn't want her, you could've at least given her to _me_!"

Ikuto Tsukiyomi snorted. "As if she would've given _you _a second glance!" He absent-mindedly flipped his silky, though messy, midnight-blue locks.

"What the hell is _that _supposed to mean?!"

"It means, _idiot_, that Mizuki--"

_"Mitsuki, _you prick, it's _Mitsu_--" He sounded extremely agitated with his best friend... or presumably _ex_ best friend.

Ikuto sighed, waving a hand dismissively in the air. "Whatever_. _Mizuki, Mitsuki, they're all the same. Believe me, I know," He sharply glanced at his expectant-looking friend. "_You_, on the other hand, are totally oblivious to that obvious fact, Yoru."

"NOT!" Yoru Tsukiyomi defensively responded, turning his head away from his smirking friend with a prominent, embarrassed blush grazing his tan cheeks. "I... I _definitely _understand that women are all the same, _idiot_!"

"Is that so?" Ikuto, still smirking, rested his chin on his interlaced fingers, not removing his gaze from Yoru.

"Y-yeah! You... you don't know anything, nya!" The cat-like teenager's blush darkened. "It's just that... that Mitsuki was... was... _different_! That's all! She was just... special! Of course, someone like _you_, wouldn't know... so..."

"By 'special'..." Ikuto answered, not bothered in the slightest. "You mean 'cute', right?"

"Nope," Yoru waved a reprimanding finger in the air, shaking his head like a teacher. "I mean cut_er_."

"Point."

"But, you've got to admit, Ikuto," Yoru continued. "She definitely _was _the cutest out of all _these,_" he gestured to all the remaining girls in the classroom. "Right?"

"Sad, but true..." The blue-eyed boy admitted. "Which... leaves just _one _little, itsy bitsy problem...?"

"No one to follow up, eh?" Yoru contributed, grinning toothily, his unusual yellow orbs twinkling in amusement.

"Bull's eye." Ikuto grinned back. "Only someone cuter than the previous one will do."

"That's the rule." They both echoed in unison, Yoru imitating Ikuto.

"Aw, too bad..." The shorter boy joked. "That kind of marks the end of your 'player' career, no?"

Ikuto stared at him oddly. "...Dream on."

Yoru, seemingly very amused by the 'player's' words, burst out laughing immediately, as Ikuto looked on, even more oddly than before. "_What the hell_, may I ask, is so unbelievably _funny_?"

"Damn! No... Noth--" His smile suddenly disappeared as he stared horrifyingly at something behind Ikuto. "Oh crap! Nikaidou-sansei alert, at 3 'o' clock!"

"Damn..." Ikuto murmured, urgently resetting his sitting position in a more suitable manner for school.

Yoru silently peeked from the corner of his eye in his stiff position, his curious mind forcing him to do so. His eyes widened in curiosity as he carefully whispered something to Ikuto.

"Hey... hey Ikuto..." he murmured, careful not to be caught. "Nikaidou-sensei is talking to someone. Damn, I can't even..._ no way_! He's _smiling, _dude! He _never _smiles! What's going on?!"

"How should _I_ know?" Ikuto whispered back, slightly irritated at his friend's childish behavior, as he tried to sneak a peek himself. But straightened himself immediately as the strict teacher entered the classroom.

"Good morning, class," he proclaimed, setting a few books down on the desk. Only a few murmured a polite 'good morning' back. Everyone stiffened when the cold teacher offered them an icy glare.

"I expect a much more polite greeting from my students when I enter the classroom," he coldly declared. "Especially since I do _not _appreciate them offering a new student such a horrible first impression."

_'New... student?!' _Many of the pupils wondered with wide eyes.

"Ah... your expressions show curiosity..." he continued, finally facing towards the doorway. "You may enter, Hinamori-san."

Most of the students' eyes were seemingly glued to the doorway, as a slender, pale-skinned girl entered the classroom with quiet, emotionless steps. The 15-year old girl had large, seemingly-innocent honey-coloured eyes, which seemed emotionless, but could, at the same time, shut up even a pecking hen with one glance. Shoulder-length, unusually pink-coloured hair was tied untidily with a red, 'X' clip, with her bangs partly covering her eyes. She adorned a typical girls' uniform: white, collared shirt, plaid, black skirt, coupled with black leggings, white shoes, and a bow.

"Please introduce yourself, Hinamori-san."

"My name is Amu Hinamori. No hobbies, or favourites in particular. No other unnecessary information is required, I believe." She spoke as if bored, but with a challenging aura of firmness.

The girl, all in all, possessed a dark sort of beauty that could be spotted by only few.

Those 'few', unluckily, included Ikuto Tsukiyomi.

_'Next target, locked on,' _He smirked. _'Amu Hinamori... you're mine.'_

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"Geez!" Yoru exclaimed frustratingly, throwing his hands up in the air with an angry pout on his handsome, tan face. "Why the hell do teachers have to give us poor kids_ detention_?! I mean, all the _freaking _time! What's the point, anyway?!"

Ikuto sighed, with his chin propped up on his palm in boredom. "Shut the hell _up_, Yoru. If they give us detention, they give us detention. Live with it."

"What's _that _supposed to mean, bastard?!" Yoru angrily yelled, offended at his friend's, according to him, _unneeded_ comment. "They are _so _not living up to all that 'always be fair' an' all that other crap they lecture us on, nya!"

"Life isn't fair. Deal."

"What _idiot_ asked you anyway?!"

"Like someone _needs _to? You're talking to the one with the 'player career' here, remember, _idiot_?"

The boy snorted. "Like that makes a diff--" Abruptly, his smirk dropped as he plastered an expression on his face that suggested he was deep in thought. Unique eyes staring at the ground with his fore-finger curled at his frowning lips.

"Uh... hey, Ikuto?" He finally looked up at Ikuto, planning to inquire about something, but was surprised to find an expression that plainly said 'what's-up-with-you?' "What?! Don't give me the 'look', okay?!"

"Okay, okay..." Ikuto rose up his arms lazily in defense. "Don't go nuclear." Before Yoru could retort, the blue-eyed brunette continued. "What's got you so deep in that shallow mind of yours, anyway?"

Ignoring the partial insult, Yoru began to answer. "The new girl... she was pretty cute too, yeah? Maybe even more than Natasha, nya... I know she isn't your 'type' and everything, but what do you... you know, think about_ her? _I think her name was Ami Hinamori, or something--"

"Amu."

"H-huh?"

"Her name, stupid," Ikuto corrected, as Yoru stared curiously. "It was _Amu _Hinamori. Not Ami."

After a few seconds, Yoru's curious gaze turned to a triumphant one. "_AHA_! I _knew _it! She _is _the next one, isn't she?!"

"For once," Ikuto started, unfazed by his friend's typical, childish behavior. "You guessed right. She may not be my kind of girl, but she's the only one left, isn't she?"

"True, true..." The oddly playful 18-year old stroked his chin, pretending to be in thought. "But how're you going to _get_ her? She doesn't seem like a girl to fall for the usual trick..."

"Impossible," Ikuto confidently confirmed. "It hasn't failed before, it won't _now_. She'll fall for it."

"I don't know, Ikuto..." Yoru's unsure expression and unsteady gaze thoroughly displayed his worry.

"Quit worrying, will you?" Ikuto commanded, slightly offended at his friend's lack of trust in him. "She may act different, but she's still the same. They all are."

Behind the open doorway, a tall girl with waist-length blonde hair, determined, violet eyes, high cheek bones and a fair complexion stood rigidly, fists clenched at her sides with silent tears streaking down her cheeks. Her throat burned painfully as she desperately tried to hold back her choking sobs.

_**"Gomen, Utau. It's true that I love you. But not that way. Never that way."**_

Hoshina Utau abruptly wiped away her tears with her sleeve angrily.

_**"You know very well that it's impossible. We're siblings, Utau. Keep that in mind."**_

Stealing one last look at the raven-haired playboy, Utau darted away from the detention room as fast and silently as possible, a determined, firm look in her fierce, purple orbs where tears were filling up just a moment ago.

_'I won't let you take him, Hinamori.'_

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Amu Hinamori stood silently, blending into the background, as she placed the few books in her arms into her locker, and replaced them with new, unused ones. Ignoring the shouts, whispering, laughing and snickering around her as best as she could, she narrowed her eyes when she caught sight of three girls, about her age, whispering something to each other and then snickering, pointing at_ her _the entire time.

The golden-eyed girl felt sick to the stomach, an odd urge to trample the three girls immediately started to bubble up inside of her.

Closing her eyes in a calm manner that betrayed her inner turmoil, her shoulders slumped slightly as she regained control of her emotions. She faced her locker, but dared to sneak a peek at the gossiping girls one last time.

_'You're all the same_,' she sourly thought, her immense bitterness being displayed by the slightest narrow of her bitterly sparkling eyes_. 'I hate people like you.'_

_**"Why can't you be more like... like other girls?! Why do you have to be so... so**_** different**_**?! I **_**hate**_** people like you!"**_

Lowering her head in order for her bangs to cast a dark shadow over her eyes, she faintly smiled with unbearable bitterness. A smile that betrayed the emotion a _real _smile was supposed to portray.

"Ironic... how very _ironic_..." she murmured.

Suddenly hearing the volume of the whispering and murmuring rise by quite a bit, she broke away from her chain of thoughts, and, with a raised eyebrow, turned to face the subject of the gossiping on which everyone's eyes were seemingly glued on, trying to predict his next movement.

She suddenly narrowed her eyes when she realized he was walking her way. _'Who _is _this guy? And what the hell does he want from _me_?'_

"Um," he started, a slight, and, unknown to her, a quite fake blush grazing his pale cheeks, coupled with a sheepish, yet cute, grin. "Amu? May I talk to you for a sec, please?"

_'And just _when_ did he get to first-name basis with me?' _She wondered. "And just _who_ might you be?" she inquired, a little harshly.

If Ikuto Tsukiyomi was surprised, he definitely did an amazing job of concealing it.

"Ah! I'm terribly sorry. I should've introduced myself first..." He threw her a charming smile, accomplishing the task of making the girls behind her swoon, but not the actual target. "My name is Ikuto Tsukiyomi. It's very nice to meet you." He extended a hand towards her.

"Pleasure." She answered shortly, but simply stared strangely at the hand extended to her, before looking up at Ikuto with a raised brow as before. "But what business exactly, may I ask, do you have with _me_?"

"Well," He was getting slightly confused with this girl, he had to admit. "It's... not exactly what you would call 'business', I suppose."

"So, you mean to say that, it _isn't _anything important?"

"Well... no. I suppose no--"

"Alright then," she began, turning her back to him. "It was nice to meet you. I'll be going now."

_'What?! What the hell?!' _Ikuto indignantly yelled in his head, but succeeded in concealing his panicky from his appearance. Before he could think of anything else, he grabbed her wrist gently, in order to stop her, and held back a flinch when she aimed a deadly glare at him.

"I'm sorry, Amu," he decidedly said. "But I'm afraid I can't let you go just like that."

_'Got to hand it to that girl,_' Yoru Tsukiyomi admitted with crossed arms as he watched from the crowds_. 'He's never had to go _that_ far before...' _

"Is there something, Tsukiyomi," Hazel began, dangerously quiet. "That I have to give to you?"

"No, but..." Ikuto slowly released her wrist. "There _is _something that I need to give to _you_."

Turning up his act again, Ikuto extended the arm previously hidden behind his back to Amu, presenting a beautiful, crimson rose, together with a sheepish scratch on the head, an innocent, cute grin, and a fake, pink blush dusting his normally pale cheeks.

"I'm sorry to say this so suddenly, Amu," Ikuto apologized. "But... I'm afraid I couldn't wait any longer."

Amu kept staring at the rose held tenderly in the hand extended towards her.

"I honestly, sincerely, like you. A lot, actually. So... I was wondering if we could... maybe, go out together sometime?"

Amu Hinamori's golden-brown eyes never left the rose presented to her, except when she heard the silence being broken by a tearful sniff from nearby. She avoided turning her head to look in the direction of the quiet whispering and sniffing, but opted instead to just peek from the corner of her eye.

As everyone else was busy predicting her next movement, she figured she was, unexpectedly, the only one paying any attention to the two girls huddled together in the corner, glaring at Ikuto with a mixture of hurt and rage.

Amu narrowed her eyes to catch a better look at the two, her eyes sharpening as they caught a silent tear trickling down one's cheek.

_"So, she's the next one? When is this going to end?" _She heard the first one whisper with a cracking voice.

_"Don't worry... she'll learn soon enough..." _The second one had answered.

Those two sentences, she knew, as she pulled her gaze back towards the rose still extended to her, were enough to give her the full lowdown on Ikuto Tsukiyomi.

As expected by everyone, Amu Hinamori smiled sweetly at the handsome boy in front of her, as he restrained widening his eyes.

_'Whoa...' _he secretly thought. _'Talk about a 360 degree change of personality...'_

Without any words, the pinkette gently plucked the rose from Ikuto's hands, and held it securely in her own two small ones. She smiled down at it, before raising her head to smile even wider at Ikuto.

"Thank you." Her voice sounded as if she had been holding back happy laughter, which made Ikuto smirk inwardly.

_'Mission accompli--' _he began triumphantly, but his own thoughts were interrupted, when he caught sight of the 15-year old girl harshly tearing away a fistful of red petals from the previously gorgeous rose, and throwing them down on the ground, all the while, smirking at the shocked player in front, staring at her.

She slapped the stem of the almost-bare rose against his cheek, holding it all the while, and decreased the distance between them to just about a measly inch.

Face to face, she looked into his shocked eyes, as if challenging him, and whispered, "You can't get me, Tsukiyomi..." he failed to notice her cold smile. "...I'm not like other girls."

As she backed away from him, she slipped on her emotionless mask once again. And as he watched her turn her back to him and walk away confidently, with her silky, vibrant, pink tresses swishing behind her, he was, for the first time, left staring after her in shock and wonder.

_**"...I'm not like other girls."**_

_'Maybe..._' Ikuto pondered_. 'All women_... aren't_ the same, after all...'_

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"NO WAY!" Yoru laughed insanely, as his best friend glared at him, irritated. "You got your sorry butt dumped by a GIRL!"

"I don't expect to be dumped by a _boy_, idiot..." Ikuto half-heartedly retorted, but the other boy resumed his laughing fit.

"Never thought the day would come, nya..." He finally calmed down, wiping a stray tear away from his eye, still grinning toothily.

"I'm not letting her go, you know..." Ikuto decided.

"You're not? Seriously?"

"No way," The midnight-blue eyed player smirked faintly, his eyes narrowing in determination.

_**"You can't get me, Tsukiyomi." **_

"I'll _definitely _get her. Even if it's the last thing I do." _'You'll see, Amu..."_

Yoru shrugged carelessly and resumed his conversation with Ikuto, as they failed to notice a figure slowly pass by them in the crowds, smirking slightly, similar to Ikuto, as she heard the pale-skinned Tsukiyomi's previous words.

_'Let's see you try, Tsukiyomi..._' Amu Hinamori challenged_. 'Let's see you try.' _

**Yea, pretty OOC, I know. But that coz this wasn't originally a SC fic, so i didn't develop the characters with Ikuto, Amu and everyone else in mind. Anyway, I still hope you enjoy it. This is my 1st Shugo Chara fic, so I hope I started out alright =D Review plz!**


	2. Chapter 2: Two Hidden Clandestines

**Disclaimer: I don't own Shugo Chara.**

**Review replies:**

**Spikey-chan: Ahhhh! My first reviewer-- _insert appreciative squeal here_--!!!! Ikuto's persona really DOES suit a womanizer,doesn't it? And yeah, Amu actually NOT being dense is kinda OOC, no? But still, I'm glad u liked it, n want me to continue!! **

**Hime Cullen Tsukiyomi: Thank you so much! I'm so happy u liked it!**

**AxRaven'sxMelody: U really think it's the best fic of Shugo Chara?? Wow... that's just...like, wow. I seriously can't thank u enough! I'll try not to let you down with the next chapter then!**

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Even through the hustle bustle and excited chatter going on through the halls of the school building, many peoples' amazed eyes were still trailing the confident steps of an 17-year old girl who would normally be taking dainty, shy steps due to the starting of a new year.

The ginger-haired girl's hazel, friendly eyes did not, however, pay attention in the least, to all the admiring stares she was receiving. Instead, she walked carelessly ahead, humming a little tune under her breath.

The seemingly-cheerful girl walked with an attractive grace. With a smile that clearly informed someone 'I can do anything'. Confident eyes that never stopped to glance at anything, no matter how amazing.

"How cool," she heard an auburn-haired girl murmur to another jade-eyed brunette. "Do you see her? So cool... Yaya Yuiki."

"I know, I know," The brunette whispered, shrugging her friend's excited hands off of her.

"Yaya! Yaya-senpai! Over here!"

The hazel-eyed girl curiously turned around to face a redhead calling to her with wildly waving arms.

Out of curiosity, Yaya walked with slow steps, and with a curious eyebrow raised. Reaching the anonymous girl, she expectantly watched her smiling radiantly at her.

"Uh," Yaya started, confused. "Do I... know you?"

"Of course you do!" The redhead burst excitedly. "We met at your party last week, remember?"

"Uh… yeah," Yaya answered, as politely as she could, while thinking secretly, _'Okay, this girl has serious issues. Does she _not_ realize I invited like, a gazillion people to the party?'_

"Well, it was nice meeting you…" she awkwardly said, contrary to the confusion she was feeling inwardly.

"Hayley," The girl responded, "My name is Hayley, remember?"

"Right!" Yaya responded, laughing quite nervously. "Of course! Well… I'll be going now, so, goodbye then."

She hurried away immediately, inwardly begging to be away from the redhead. '_Sometimes,' _she thought. _'I think it isn't such a good idea to be _this _popular.'_

Pushing a stray, ginger strand away from her face and behind her ear, Ashley gripped her books slightly tighter and sighed hopelessly, continuing to walk towards the classroom with her deep eyes lost in a train of thoughts, thoughtfully looking down.

As she trudged on without looking, Yaya bumped, quite literally, into another female body, the impact of which sent her down to the floor, with her books tumbling and scattering everywhere.

Of course, Yaya Yuiki was always taught to practice patience; she herself knew that a little collision with someone would cause her to lose her calmness.

After silently collecting her books, Yaya stood up calmly with a friendly, cheerful smile, prepared to accept a torrent of apologies after the person learned that she had just knocked down _the_ Yaya Yuiki.

"Watch where you're going." Yaya didn't try to hide her shock at the unexpected statement.

"E-excuse me?"

"Are you deaf?" Sharp, cold golden eyes were turned to glare at her. "I hate repeating myself, Yuiki."

'_Wait, so she knows who I am?' _Yaya incredulously thought, staring at the girl, wide-eyed. _'And she's still…? Who the heck _is _this girl?'_

"You… you know who I am?"

"Pretty obvious," The pink-haired girl scoffed. "It's hard not _to, _seeing as everyone is _blabbering_ about you every damn chance they get."

"I… I see," Yaya blubbered. _'Sure is blunt…'_

"I'm sure you do," The golden-eyed girl raised a dark eyebrow at the blonde's questionable behavior, before carelessly dismissing the issue and turning around. "Yeah, well, whatever. I'll be on my way. Later, Yuiki."

"Ah, yeah. Later…"

The pinkette made no attempt to acknowledge her last words, and resumed walking, before she stopped abruptly, and tilted her head to meet eyes with the dumbstruck girl staring at her walking away.

"Wait a minute," She suddenly narrowed her eyes. "Yuiki? Do you, by any chance, have any relation to Yuiki Enterprises?"

'_She didn't know!? No wonder!' _Yaya thought, before responding, "Yes. I'm the daughter of the president." She waited for the girl to blush embarrassingly and bow, mumbling apologies.

It never came.

"Oh? That's too bad," She responded, turning her head again, and this time, putting the tip of her shoe on one of Yaya's books that she had missed in the corner, and thrust it towards her, as it skid towards Yaya while the dirt from the floor plastered itself on it.

"_What the hell!?' _Yaya thought angrily, eyes stuck on the book near her foot, finally feeling anger towards the indifferent girl. _'What's with this girl!?'_

"No offence," The pale-skinned 15-year old calmly started, the depths of her eyes showing unbelievable coldness. "But I _hate _rich, snobby, girly girls who cake make-up on their pretty little faces."

Before she could turn around and resume her trudge towards the classroom, she heard a threatening whisper directed at her from the blonde girl.

"'No offence'?" Yaya whispered, eyes closed, but eyebrows furrowed together, showing rage. "You insult me, throw a book at me, bump into me, and now you say 'no offence'!? I don't even know your damn name!"

Before beginning her response, the 15-year old changed her cold expression to a radiant, amiable smile.

"First: I insulted _rich, snobby, girly girls_, not you. If you're one of them, not my problem," At this Yaya couldn't resist from dropping her jaw in shock.

"Second: I didn't _throw _a book at you, Sherlock; I simply _gave _it to you. Either be grateful, or piss off," At this, Yaya's eyebrow began twitching uncontrollably.

"Thirdly: I didn't bump into _you, you_ were the one uncaring of where the hell you were staggering off to and who the hell you were crashing into."

"What!?" Yaya gathered her wits and screeched. "I-I did _not—"_

"And lastly," The girl cut her off uncaringly. "I don't care if you don't know my name, because, apparently, it's none of your damn business, Yuiki."

After smiling sweetly one and for all at the wide-eyed girl to seal the argument, as if nothing chaotic had happened, the pink-haired girl once again left Yaya Yuiki jaw-slacked in the school hallway alone.

The only thing Yaya's numb mind could comprehend at the time was this: That smile was dangerous.

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Throwing her medium-sized bag down on the floor carelessly, Amu immediately crashed down on the small, white, clean bed in her new dorm.

"For a top-rated high school, it sure has pathetic dorms for a first-year," she complained with a sour face. "Especially since we have to _share_ it with four other people. Not one, not two, but four."

She sighed. "Might as well do _something _before my so-called _partners _come in," She twisted her lip in a scowl. "It better not be some perverted guy or any girly shopaholic."

Amu faced her bedside table lazily and spotted a beautiful red rose gracefully standing in a blue, translucent, curvy vase.

"Well, doesn't _this _bring back memories," Amu advanced towards the vase and gently lifted the rose up from its place. "_Irritating _memories."

She carelessly threw the rose down on the table and rested her head on her crossed arms. "I sincerely hope I never see that annoying player ever again."

"Tut tut, you break my heart, dear Amu."

Amu's pale face whipped around so fast, her pink-coloured locks slapped her face. But the girl took no notice of it as she pointed an accusing finger at the midnight-blue eyed boy smirking at her.

"You!" Her eyes unusually twitched at the sight of him. "Why the hell are _you _here!?"

"You don't know? I thought it was quite obvious," he feigned surprise. "It's to lay my pathetic, incomplete eyes on your beautiful, shining face smiling at me, of course."

"'Shining face smiling at me' my foot, you retard," She retorted, glaring at him with every ounce of hate she could muster up. "Though I can't disagree with you on the 'pathetic' part. Why in the world are you here, anyway?"

"I already told you: to see your beautiful—" he stopped short in order to avoid a pillow chucked at him hatefully.

"Hey hey," he said, bending down to pick the pillow up. "Easy now—" He was again stopped short when another pillow hit him square in the face, when he straightened his spine.

Coughing out the feathers that found their way into his mouth, he glared at the Amu, only to cringe when he sensed an extremely dark, angry vibe coming from her.

"Whoa," he murmured. "Black aura, much?"

"Why the hell are you here, Tsukiyomi?" Her voice was deadly, threatening whisper.

"Well, you see—"

"Why the hell are you even in my already messed up life?"

"Actually—"

"Why, I ask, did God send _you _down to me, of all people?"

"To tell you the truth, it's actually because—"

"Why must your disgusting, devil-resembling face haunt _me _of all people? Did I commit some unforgivable sin in my past life, or something—"

"Would you just shut the hell up and listen, Hinamori!?" Ikuto yelled, frustrated. "I'm your freaking roommate, you witch! Gosh!"

"_You're… _my _roommate_?" She questioned incredulously.

"Finally!" Ikuto exasperatedly threw his arms up in the air. "Finally, Sherlock gets it!"

"Wait, you're my roommate, so… you're telling me that… the dorms in this college are _co_?!" Amu ignored Ikuto's previous sarcastic comment, and hurriedly rushed out of the door in a worry, snapping her head left and right, horrified to see boys and girls in one dorm through the few open doors.

"It's _co_! This college is freaking _co_!" She decided, terrified. "I never knew boys and girls would have to stay in the same dorms!"

Ikuto leaned against the doorway, smirking at the pinkette smacking her forehead. "Well, Mademoiselle, ignorance is bliss, yes?"

"No!" She answered angrily. "Ignorance is most _definitely _not bliss! If I would've known, I never would have come here in the first place!"

"Exactly why I say ignorance is bliss," he grinned at her. "If you would never have come here, I would never have had the chance to lay my eyes on your—"

"I will slap you," Amu emotionlessly responded with a threatening aura. "I _will _slap you, Tsukiyomi."

"Go ahead," he continued to tease her endlessly. "At least then I can feel your _soft, gentle_ hand on my cheek—"

He let out a yelp when the said _soft, gentle _hand gripped the collar of his shirt harshly, and the owner of the hand twitched, irritated, smirking down at him dangerously.

"_Soft _and _gentle, _yeah?" Amu began, dragging him towards the exit. "I'll show you _soft_ and _gentle_, Tsukiyomi. Don't you worry."

As she forcefully dragged him out of his own dorm, he immediately began to regret his previous words, "H-hey, Amu, wait a second, will you? We can talk this out, you know…"

But she wouldn't hear any of it, instead, simply threw him out not-too-gently, as he went staggering back a few feet, and the door mercilessly shut him out with a loud, unwelcoming bang.

"Hey! You can't shut me out!" He banged his fists against the door, shouting, as people nearby threw him odd looks. "This is _my _dorm too!"

After fifteen continuous minutes of banging and shouting, he finally gave up and slid down next to the door, refusing to lose to a girl in any way, and pouted angrily, albeit in a cute manner.

"Witch…"

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"Alright!" The gym instructor announced with a grin. "Team up, people! One girl with one boy! Understood?"

A faint murmur of 'yes sir' rang through the crowd of students in front.

"So, shall we team up, _Amu_?" Ikuto Tsukiyomi charismatically smiled at her, hoping to receive a giddy response from her.

Although, she plainly stared at him with an odd look, answering, "Are you kidding me? Go to hell."

"You know, _I _should be the one saying that to _you_. You _were_ the one, after all, who locked me out _my own dorm_," He nodded his head absent-mindedly. "Yeah, I should _definitely _say that to you."

"Is that so? Then say it," Amu challenged, with an eerie smirk. "I dare you."

'_Uh oh,'_ Ikuto backed away with his arms up in defense, _'Creepy smile alert!' _He laughed nervously, hoping it would cover his present fright of the 'demon-witch', as he nicknamed her.

"Geez," he finally sighed, dropping his hands. "I was just trying to convince you to be my partner, how'd it turn out to _this_?"

"That's me," Amu answered back shortly. "Deal with it."

"Is it? Damn," He murmured under his breath, scratching his head absent-mindedly. "Why can't you be just a _teeny bit _like other girls?"

That, unfortunately, was unexpectedly heard by the subject of the sentence.

"Well, I'm deeply sorry, Tsukiyomi," He turned to face her in surprise, and was shocked to find her honey-coloured eyes narrowed at him, glaring at him more icily than he had ever seen her, making a shiver run down his spine. "But if I'm truly _that _much of an inconvenience to you, I suggest you suck it up, and get lost, before I take up any more of your _precious _time."

"Amu," Ikuto started, finally recovering from his shock of seeing such hate reflected in her deep, dark eyes. "I… It was just a _joke. _You shouldn't—"

"I shouldn't _what_?" Amu replied, the coldness not diminishing in the slightest. "Unfortunately for you, I tend to take jokes very, very seriously."

With that, she turned on her heel, and left him alone without glancing back, without any partner to comfort him. But even _then_, he maybe a player, but even players can have sharp minds.

'_Taking jokes very seriously, Amu?' _Ikuto thought, suddenly serious and deep in thought. _'Or are you just unwilling to relive a past event?' _

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Electricity could be felt cackling between the eyes of two girls as they stood beside each other, glancing at each other from the corner of their eyes.

One of them, the older one, 17 years old, had her ginger-coloured hair, tied attractively into two pigtails, blowing behind her heart-shaped, tan face, hazel brown eyes glaring more than they had ever glared before.

The second one, 15 years old, was glaring just as hatefully, if not more, her competitiveness fueled by what her roommate had just mumbled a few minutes ago. She had her pink-coloured tresses whipping around in the air, as she held the same stance as Yaya.

"On your marks, get set, go!"

The two raced off at unimaginable speeds, reaching their partners across from them and slapping their hands at almost the same time.

"Go, Kukai! Now!" Yaya Yuiki shouted as her partner hurried away at her encouraging commands.

"Don't let him beat you!" Amu screamed just as loudly, and encouragingly, as Yaya jerked her face towards her, uncaring of the remarks of 'when did Yaya change this much?' and so on, as she met her honey-golden eyes daringly.

"I won't lose to you, Hinamori," she decided.

"I won't let you win, Yuiki," Amu responded with a challenging smirk.

Perhaps in the midst of the heated competitions, Yaya Yuiki had decided that, maybe, having someone treat you differently could be a pain in the neck.

But at least, it never failed to spice up your life a bit.

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**Yaaaaaayyyyyyy! 2nd chap.... finito!!! Im hoping for abt.... 5-7 reviews, for the 3rd chapter...? Well, its up 2 u guys. Review plz!!!! **


	3. Chapter 3: Three Strangers,Three Friends

**Disclaimer: I do not own Shugo Chara!**

**kanameXakari: Arigatou!! I hope I can continue to mould this story into one that can deserve that opinion of yours!**

**aquris: Well, you don't have to wait anymore, the next chapter's right here. It's honestly coz of people like u that I can keep updating and writing like I do! Thank you, truly!**

**AmutoForever15: I'm glad u like this story, that really encourages me to continue! I'll try to update sooner from now on. And as for what happened to Amu... ur gonna have to wait a little to find out that one...**

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A short, 16-year old girl with thigh-length blonde locks and timid, unconfident, honey-golden eyes, adorning the same uniform as all the other girls surrounding her, stepped timidly out of an average-looking, black car.

She gulped nervously and frowned, moving her eyes left and right, and glancing down at the ground as she felt ashamed and nervous of all the beautiful girls chattering away.

'_Maybe… I shouldn't have come here," _Rima Mashiro regretfully wondered. _'I feel a bit… out of place.'_

She blushed tomato red and lowered her head immediately when she spotted a group of girls nearby whispering something to each other and pointing at her. She screwed her eyes shut when she heard them snickering.

Rima, with much difficulty, held her stinging tears at bay until she angrily wiped them away with the white sleeve of her shirt.

'_I… I promised myself I wouldn't do this anymore!' _She scolded herself. _'Why can't I be just a little strong, for once?'_

Pushing her way through the crowds and ignoring the yells of protest and few profanities, Rima entered the crowded school halls, clutching her books tightly to her chest.

"Um, excuse me?" She tapped a random person on the shoulder, as the person curiously turned to face her. "Would you know the way to the principal's office?"

"Yeah, of course," the green-eyed boy answered amiably. "On the second floor, just keep going ahead, it's the last door to your right."

"Okay," she nodded gratefully. "Thank you."

Rima wasted not a second in zooming off towards the stairs, careful not to drop her books on the staircase, as she pushed a light blonde strand of hair that had started to tickle her eyelid, behind her ear.

"I should cut them soon," she murmured, taking in deep breaths as she stood in front of the principal's office. Shaking off her nervousness and straightening her spine in a confident posture, she knocked on the glass doors.

"Come in." A gruff, professional reply was heard vaguely.

Rima pushed open the doors and peeked inside, sighting a dark-haired, lean woman wearing glasses over her dull green eyes, with a few stress lines on the sides of her aristocratic nose. She had her head slightly lowered while she was scribbling something on a piece of paper, dark brown strands loosened from her bun framing her oval-shaped face.

The principal raised her head when she heard the door creak open, pale-pink lips opened slightly, before they stretched to form a small, soft smile at her. Rima felt relief flood through her.

"Ah," she stood up from her seat, showing her light grey business suit. "A new student, I presume?"

"Y-yes," Rima answered, finding herself smiling back at the seemingly 38-year old woman. "I am. I was hoping to receive my schedule and dorm number here?"

"Yes, I think we can manage that," The older woman lowered her head again, and opened up another drawer in the desk. "Name?"

"Rima Mashiro, ma'am," Rima responded, as the principal flipped through a few files, searching for the new student's name.

"Here we are," she finally pulled out a file and put it on the desk, opening it and taking two pieces of papers from inside it. "Your schedule, Mashiro-san," she handed the schedule to Rima's awaiting hand. "And your dorm number is… 324."

"324," Rima repeated, nodding. "Alright, thank you."

"You're welcome," she replied. "And good luck."

Rima Mashiro smiled gently once again, and hurriedly stepped out of the office, immediately on her way to her dorm, in order to dump two very heavy suitcases on her bed, and free herself form the burden.

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Rima smiled with relief when she spotted a dorm with a gold plate that said '324', and cautiously twisted the doorknob to peek inside, relieved to find it empty.

"I hope the other four arrive a bit late," she wished, throwing her tired, tiny self on a random bed. _"_I'd like a few quiet minutes to myself."

"Too bad," she heard a velvety, female voice say from nearby. "You won't be getting your wish, girl."

Rima immediately sat up as fast as lightning and whipped her head around with eyes as wide as dinner plates, to sight a pale, pink-haired girl, with cold, golden eyes, leaning against the bathroom doorway with crossed arms, her hair dripping wet.

"You… who are you?" Rima asked, but not in the least bit intimidating manner, but rather a hesitant, polite inquiry.

"It's common courtesy to give your own name before asking others', kid." The pale-skinned girl replied cleverly.

"Oh! I'm so sorry!" The yellow-eyed girl suddenly stood up and bowed her head low in respect. "My name is Rima Mashiro. It's a pleasure to meet you."

"Okay okay," the other girl responded, pushing her body away from the doorway. "Just don't _bow_ or anything, kid. The name's Amu."

"It's great to meet you!" Rima raised her head and smiled shyly at Amu. "I hope we can get along in the future."

"Yeah…" Amu threw an odd look at the girl, not used to friendliness or acceptance that easily. "Okay then. I'll be seeing you, Mashiro-san."

"Um… excuse me," She stopped her from walking away. "But, aren't there supposed to be three others here?"

"Yeah, there are. So?" Amu answered carelessly, shrugging.

"So… where are they?" Rima asked, confused at Amu's uncaring behavior.

"Beats the hell out of me," The golden-eyed girl replied, turning away from Rima and easily ignoring her confusion. "I don't know who the other two are, and neither do I care, frankly. Tsukiyomi's one of them, but I threw him out earlier, so… yeah. I just hope he _stays _out."

Rima's eyebrows furrowed, as she frowned at Amu's back. "Well, that wasn't very nice of you."

"Yeah?" Amu retorted, unfazed by Rima's unhappy comment. "Well, guess what? Playing around with peoples' feelings and breaking innocent girls' hearts for no reason isn't exactly _nice _either, is it? But _he _still does it, doesn't he?"

"He does?" Rima asked incredulously, anger fading for a few moments before returning back in full force, as she left behind her shyness for a few rare seconds. "You mean to say my roommate's a _player_!? That's messed up!"

"Sucks, doesn't it?" Amu scowled, running a pale hand through her still damp tresses. "_Someone _understands, at least."

"Sucks?" Rima repeated, wearing a deep frown herself. "It goes _beyond _just 'sucks'! I do _not _appreciate some guy I don't even _know _flirting with me! It would've been fine if some _unimaginably gorgeous_ girl had been here to distract him, but that wouldn't have been any better either!"

As if suddenly realizing what she had just said, a pink blush dusted Rima's cheeks.

"Uh, no offence," she said, suddenly sounding timid. "It's not like _you're _not unimaginably gorgeous or any—"

"Whoa!" Amu suddenly rose up her arms, as if in defense. "'Unimaginably gorgeous', and _me_? I'd be happy to be the ugliest girl on the planet, if I could just stay away from _that _guy."

Rima nodded thoughtfully, fully agreeing with her roommate. "You're right, come to think of it. Especially since 'unimaginably gorgeous' would probably mean wearing skimpy clothes and caking make-up on our faces."

Amu's eyes widened slightly. _'Isn't that what I said to Yuiki before? 'Girly girls who cake make-up on their faces'?'_

"You know," she raised up her face to meet Rima's face with an accepting smirk. "You're not that bad, kid."

Rima took no notice of the term 'kid', but instead, her face lit up, as she smiled happily at Amu. "I like you too!"

She suddenly blushed, embarrassed. "I-I mean, as a _friend_! Don't misunderstand or anything."

"Don't worry, kid," Amu smirked. "I never took you to be a lesbian."

Nobody would have ever believed that the shy, timid girl and the tough, cold teenager were, at that moment, laughing, like friends.

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"Alright, here it is." Yaya Yuiki decidedly proclaimed, holding up a small piece of paper with the number '324' written on it, the same as the gold plate on the door in front of which she had halted.

Confidently pushing open the door and striding in, she was surprised to find two girls sitting on the same bed, laughing heartily.

The fact that the two girls were laughing with each other wasn't really the fact that surprised her. Actually, one could see the sight quite often in college. The fact that _really _shocked her was that one of those girls was someone she had interacted with before, unfortunately.

"You!" Yaya pointed a finger at her accusingly exclaimed, brows knitted together and mouth plunging downwards in a deep frown. "Why are _you _here!?"

"Oh, so it's _you _again. I could be asking you the same thing, Yuiki." Amu replied, tilting her head towards Yaya with indifferent eyes. "Here to humiliate yourself even more now?"

"For your kind information, Hinamori-san," Yaya exclaimed, offended. "This is my _dorm_!"

If Amu Hinamori would never have trained herself to conceal vulnerability, she most definitely would have choked on her own saliva there and then.

"You're my _roommate_?" The rose-haired teen narrowed her eyes, as if bored, and sarcastically said, "How thrilling."

"Yeah, for _you,_ maybe," Yaya Yuiki retorted, not taking notice of the other girl until she stood up and bowed herself.

"Hello," she quietly greeted. "I'm Rima Mashiro. It's an honor to meet you."

"Uh, hi," Yaya sheepishly greeted back, quite embarrassed that she hadn't noticed her earlier. "My name is—"

"Quit with the bowing, kid," Amu rudely interrupted. "Besides, Yuiki isn't worth bowing to anyway."

Yaya's face turned red with anger, as her lower lip trembled. "Who says!?"

"Oh?" Amu raised an eyebrow in amusement. "So, you think you're all 'high and mighty' now, Yuiki?"

"I never said that," Yaya quietly whispered, her hazel-brown eyes filling up with tears, as her vision blurred. Rima sighted the 17-year old girl's tears and advanced a comforting hand towards her, eyebrows shooting up in concern.

Amu, on the other hand, opted to act insensitively. "What? Please don't tell me the great daughter of the president of Yuiki Enterprises is going to start _bawling her eyes out_ now."

"I…" Yaya's previously confident voice started to crack.

"So," Amu still remained calm, even after spotting Yaya's tears. "I was right, wasn't I? You _are _one of those unbearably cheerful, girly girls, who're never even spotted without make-up and attractive clothes. Who think they're just the perfect little angels," Amu suddenly turned serious. "Well, guess what, Yuiki: Don't ever, _ever_, fool yourself into thinking you're perfect, because you definitely aren't fooling _me_."

That was the straw that broke the camel's back, as Yaya rushed towards the nearest bathroom and, with a blotchy and tear-streaked face, locked it. Her throat burned because of repressing her sobs for too long, as she leaned against the door.

"Yaya? Yaya-san, please unlock the door…" she heard someone murmur vaguely from the other side.

"Please go away," Yaya mumbled, sniffing. "I… need to be alone, for a while…"

She heard silence for a minute, and thought that the girl had given up, before she heard the same voice murmur something else, "Is that _really_ what you want?" Her voice held a tone that told Yaya that Rima knew she was right.

"Y-yes," Yaya stammered. _'Why… why am I hesitating?'_

"I can hear your stutter," Rima answered, still not giving up. "I know you want me to come in there, Yaya. I know you do."

Yaya clenched her fists. _'This girl knows what she's talking about,' _she decided, before silently unlocking the door and letting Rima in, her head still glaring at the bathroom tiles.

The first thing that Yaya said was, "How did you know?" She knew Rima understood very well what she was talking about.

"Because…" Rima stopped abruptly. "I just do."

Yaya clutched her head, and seated herself on the corner of the bathtub. "This wasn't supposed to happen… I was supposed to control myself…" she murmured, partly to herself and partly to Rima.

"I feel like I can help you," Rima declared to the distressed, ginger-haired girl, not feeling her usual shy self. "I'm not just saying that. I really feel like you're hiding something in _there_." She pointed at Yaya's heart. "Something you want to tell me, but at the same time, you don't. Am I right?"

At seeing Yaya jerking her head upwards in shock to stare at her, Rima smiled sadly. "I hit the nail right on the head, didn't I?"

Yaya lowered her head, in order for her bangs to shield her teary eyes with a dark shadow.

"Being the daughter of the president of Yuiki Enterprises comes with a price, contrary to what people usually think about me," Yaya began, and Rima had to strain her ears to hear her cracking whisper. "I'm not what I am, Rima-san, I'm what I was always _forced _to be. Perfect grades, perfect looks, perfect personality, perfect everything. It was just expected of me from the start. The perfect girl: Yaya Yuiki. That's why Amu's words struck something in me, I guess."

Rima moved from her spot and slowly seated herself next to Yaya, as she continued. "This," she gestured to herself. "I don't… I don't want to be something like _this_. I never did. It was all societal pressure, Rima, all—"

"Crap." A voice was heard from the doorway. "It's all a piece of crap."

"What?" The two girls faced the frowning rosette leaning against the doorway, honey eyes colder than they had ever seen before.

"You think _this_," Amu pointed at herself, "was forced to be pulled out of societal pressure, Yuiki? No chance. _This _is what I made out of myself. _This _is what I decided to be on my _own. This _is to what extent I pushed myself to become what I am today. What I _wanted_ to become. Even _with _that 'societal pressure' under which even _you _wouldn't last."

"What do you mean, Amu?" Rima asked for Yaya, who was rendered speechless at the moment.

Amu smirked bitterly, and grunted, before turning her back to the two of them coldly and heading out of the dorm, presumably for some time alone.

'_So… we aren't all just _free _and _happy,_ I suppose,' _Yaya declared inwardly, still staring at the spot where Amu was standing just a few seconds ago, before glancing at a stunned Rima from the corner of her eyes, recalling her words from before.

'_But I'm still expecting a few more surprises,' _she thought, narrowing her eyes suspiciously.

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**I hope you enjoyed, and thank u for reading. Review please!**


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I do not own Shugo Chara.

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Hushed whispers and shocked gasps could be heard all around in the college where Hinamori Amu, Yuiki Yaya, and Mashiro Rima were, unexpectedly, wandering around at break together, Yaya and Rima chattering away like the best of friends, as Amu silently trudged on beside them.

"Amu," Yaya finally called out to her, frowning. "Don't you _talk_?"

"Believe me, Yuiki_-san,"_ Amu answered, unfazed at Yaya's unneeded remark. "When I _really_ 'talk', you'll wish you'd never have asked me to."

Yaya snorted. "Can't disagree with that," she mumbled, as Rima laughed humorously.

"Geez… it's so boring with you guys gossiping like little schoolgirls about all that useless crap," The honey-eyed 15-year old complained, pointedly ignoring the exasperated 'I knew it' from Yaya.

"Are you bored, Amu?" Rima inquired innocently, tilting her head slightly to meet her rich golden orbs with Hazel's honey-yellow ones.

"Thank you for stating the obvious, genius." Amu answered back.

Yaya pouted at Amu, and gripped Rima's arm. "Hey! Don't be so mean to her! At least she's concerned, Amu."

"Yeah," Amu scoffed, and retorted bluntly, "Something _you _definitely haven't tried being."

"Y-you guys!" Rima smiled nervously and pushed her arms between Yaya and Amu to create some distance between the two scowling girls, before a verbal fight could break out. "Stop it! This isn't a place to start a fight!"

Listening to their mutual friend, the two girls backed off, albeit a bit reluctantly.

"Whatever," Amu raised her chin high proudly, looking down at Yaya before gripping Rima's unoccupied arm. "C'mon Rima, let's go."

Before she could pull her away from Yaya, however, Amu felt another tug at Rima's other arm that was grabbed by Yaya. "Where do you think _you're _going?" Yaya snapped, pulling Rima towards her, as the golden-eyed girl winced. "Rima's coming with _me_, Amu."

"Says who?" The pink-haired teenager breathed out dangerously.

"Me." Yaya declared confidently, not at all frightened by Amu's threatening voice.

"That line isn't going to work on _me_, Yuiki," Amu informed, tugging at Rima's arm none-too-gently.

"Who says it _needs _to?" Yaya snapped back, pulling Rima's arm even harder than Amu previously had, "I'm taking her anyway!"

"Please, you guys," Rima screwed her eyes shut and, with much difficulty, pried her arms free from Yaya and Amu's death grips. "You're hurting me."

"S-sorry," Yaya apologetically said, frantically rubbing Rima's red arm.

"I'm not really the one who needs an apology…" Rima hinted, as Yaya let go the girl's arm and hesitantly stared at Amu before lowering her head.

"Sorry, Amu…" she apologized in a low voice. Rima then turned her head to look expectantly look at Amul, who twitched and sighed after staring back for a few seconds.

"Fine, fine," she gave in, offering a very faint smile. "Sorry Yaya."

It was just then that the ear-splitting shriek of the warning bell rang through the ears of all the pupils in that area. Amu clicked her tongue and raised her arm to check the time on her platinum wrist-watch.

"Damn," she murmured under her breath. "Got to get going, I guess."

"Can't you just skip?" Yaya asked, as Rima whacked her on the arm.

"Nah, _some people, _Yaya," Amu answered, getting ready to dash away to her next class. "Don't get special privileges like you."

"Well—" Yaya started, brows furrowing and lips parting. But before any snappy insult could escape her mouth, Rima interrupted immediately.

"Don't you two start now," Rima scolded lightly. "Amu, you have to get to your next period before the teacher punishes you for being late. You better hurry."

Amu nodded thankfully. "Yeah, you're right. I'll be seeing you guys." And she was off with one last, small wave.

"So," The ginger-haired girl crossed her arms behind her head, in a relaxed posture, and turned to her remaining friend. "You have a spare, Rima?"

"Yes, thankfully," Rima nodded with a smile. "I suppose _you_ do too?" She suddenly frowned. "Or are you skipping?"

"What? No! Of course not!" Yaya defended frantically. "I was joking back there! I don't _really_ bunk classes! Honest!"

When Rima continued to stare at her suspiciously with narrowed eyes, Yaya unconsciously yelled, "I mean it! It's not like my folks would ever let me skip!"

"Okay, I believe you, alright?" Rima laughed slightly at Yaya's unusual, childish behavior. The two wandered around the spacious school, unaware and uncaring of where they were headed to, before another foreign male voice was heard from behind, addressing them.

"Hey," The two girls whipped their heads around immediately. "Principal's office: any idea?"

"Uh… yeah," Yaya murmured. _'Rude,' _she examined. _'But cute. Definitely cute.'_

"It's on the second floor. Last door to your right," This time, Rima was the one who opted to respond instead of Yaya who stood there, still internally examining the seemingly 18-year old boy.

Without as less as a polite thank you, the dark purple-haired boy continued on, but not before bumping into Rima's shoulder hard enough to send her tumbling down to the cold, hard ground. Yaya immediately kneeled down to help her up, before angrily turning to address the boy who remained calm, without even turning back as he knocked Rima down.

"Hey, you!" she shouted with rage boiling up inside her, as the nameless boy tilted his head in acknowledgment, in order to meet Yaya's angry eyes with his icy, golden-brown ones, narrowing his eyes hatefully at the stunned girl.

"What, Yuiki?" He snapped uncaringly, stunning Yaya.

'_Whoa,' _She recalled her encounter with Amu. _'Déjà vu all over again…'_

"Is there a _reason _you rudely knocked down my friend just now? Without any _damn, proper excuse_?" she dangerously bit out, barely audible, but her threatening voice failed to unnerve the boy in front.

"No," he answered back, just as icily. "She just pissed me off. And so do _you_. Got a problem?"

"Just _who _the hell do you think you are!?" Yaya yelled, restraining herself from yelling at the top of her lungs.

"None of your damn business," The gold-eyed boy retorted.

"I want a proper reason for why the _hell _you just pushed my friend down when she simply _helped _you! And you _will _give it to me, you jerk!"

"Oh?" The boy turned around, this time, quite serious, at least, enough to make the previously threatening girl feel like icicles were being thrown at her through the odious golden orbs that were used to being called 'eyes'. Yaya's own gold-coloured orbs widened in fear and shock.

"_That… that's just... pure hatred," _she thought, unable to tear her eyes away. _"Just what did I do to make him so… loathsome? I don't remember even _meeting_ this guy."_

"You want a 'proper reason', do you?" His fingers twitched, and Yaya suddenly had the assumption as if he wanted nothing more than to wrap his slender fingers around her throat. The thought made her shudder.

"Well, here it is," she listened closely, unable to help herself. "I _hate _you. Despise you. Detest you and your little friend there, to the very core, to the point where I want to kill you myself."

Yaya's clenched, sweaty fists trembled as she watched the boy in horror. His words sounded nothing but true to her. Not even the least bit exaggerated.

"You're lying…" she whispered, voice gradually increasing to a horrified shout. "You're lying! We… we never did anything to you! You're lying! I just know it!"

"Believe what you want to believe," the sharp-eyed youngster said, shoving his pale hands deep into his pockets, turning his back to the two girls, and walking away without another word.

"Stop right there! You can't just—" YAYA's words halted dead in their tracks when she felt a consoling, although shivering, hand placed on her shoulder. She tilted her head downwards just in time to sight Rima shake her head disapprovingly.

"Don't…" was all that was needed to be said in order to cease Yaya's yells.

"Quite a spineless girl," The unknown 18-year old murmured, barely audible, before disappearing around a corner.

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"Okay," Hinamori Amu grumbled moodily, seated comfortably on the cream-colored couch placed near the window, being offered a clear view of the lush, green back garden of the college, but it failed to lift her spirits. "Hating you, I can take. But calling Rima _spineless_!? That's just the last straw!"

"I know," Yaya mumbled back, as moody, if not more, as Amu. Staring up at the white fans rotating slowly and the dark blue ceiling, she rested her head on her crossed arms, lying on the clean, white bed, still frowning from her previous encounter. "Not to mention he deliberately pushed her down."

"You guys," Rima spoke up timidly, sitting on the plum-colored carpet and toying with the ends of the sky-blue curtains. "It's really no big deal. Stuff like that happens."

"No." Amu spoke up.

"It doesn't." Yaya frankly objected.

"Why not just let it—" Rima's smile dropped as she heard sudden yelling in someone's part just outside their door, and she felt as if it was getting nearer and nearer.

"What's going on out there?" Yaya propped herself up on her elbows, curiously tilting her head a bit for the sounds of the shouting and yelling to reach her ears more coherently.

"Beats me," Amu responded. "But it's getting annoying." With that, she abruptly stood up from her previous position from the couch and headed towards the door with irritation clearly evident in her eyes.

"Hey!" Rima sat up straighter from her position in alarm. "Wait! Maybe you should—"

But before she could proceed any longer, the door was thrown open, but not by Amu. Instead, a battered, and clearly irritated, Tsukiyomi Ikuto.

"Huh?" Yaya leaned forward in confusion. "Who—"

"Tsukiyomi!?" Amu yelled, unable to help the shock that was portrayed in her eyes. "You… why are _you _here!?"

_'Tsukiyomi?' _Rima thought to herself secretly with wide, amused eyes. _'Tsukiyomi_ Ikuto_? _That's _the so-called 'player'?'_

"Well, in case you forgot, kid," Ikuto growled back rudely, apparently in a terrible mood for some unknown reason. "This is _my_ dorm. Or at least _was, _until you _kicked me out_!"

"Don't use that tongue with _me_!" Amu was barely a second away from dropping her jaw to the floor because of Ikuto's new-found 'moody' side, one that, unfortunately, discarded all his previous charm and gentlemanliness.

"What are you?" Ikuto barked back. "My mother!?"

Amu cringed, left eye twitching at Ikuto's harsh words madly. "One more word from you, Tsukiyomi, and, God help me, I will _pound _you!"

"I'd like to see you try—" Ikuto's snappy comeback was suddenly halted by another familiar voice, at least to Yaya and Rima.

"Shut up, will you?" A sharp, gold-eyed boy with a pale complexion and long, dark purple locks stepped into the dorm. "You're getting on my nerves."

"Who the hell—" Amu growled, immediately taking a loathsome attitude towards the anonymous boy for interrupting her, but was, all of a sudden, cut off by Yaya's offensive shout.

"You! Don't come any closer, you pompous _jerk_!" she yelled odiously with an unpleasant look in her normally-beautiful eyes. "Get out of my dorm!"

"Sorry," the boy retorted uncaringly, not at all sounding apologetic. "But, unlike _this_ wimp here," he pointed at Ikuto, who had to be restrained by Amu from strangling the boy. "I won't be forced out of my own dorm by some _pushover_ girl."

"Pushover!?" Yaya screeched. "I'll show you _pushover, _you sparse little wimp!"

"Wait, stop! Yaya!" Rima rushed over to grip Yaya's arms tightly, refusing to let go. "Quit it!"

"I knew it," The dark-haired boy leaning against the yellow-brown door smirked cruelly. "Spineless."

This time, it was Ikuto that had to restrain Amu, as she reached for the unnerved boy with murderous eyes, but, not one to be controlled by anyone, she shook Ikuto's arms away angrily, and glared at the boy with murderous intent.

"So, you're the new mate?" she asked, suddenly very calm, smirking maliciously. "It sure as heck's going to be a pain in the neck living with _you_." She refrained from adding any insults.

"The feeling's mutual," The boy responded, with quite an identical smirk plastered onto his face. "I honestly don't think that it's going to be a piece of cake living with a bunch of girls I _hate to the core."_

"You know what, kid? During my entire life, if there's _one, little _thing I learned, it's this: When people who don't even _know_ you, start to _hate_ you," Amu's smirk suddenly widened, causing the already unbearable tension in the room to heighten. "Then you know you're the best."

The boy was quiet for a few moments, before smirking at Amu once more, throwing his bags on the floor unceremoniously, and walking out the door without another word, hands shoved in his pockets.

The entire atmosphere of the dorm was so tense, the three people were afraid to move, before cheers started erupting from the two girls like a volcano.

"Awesome!" Yaya squealed. "That guy was _totally_ scared! I just know it! You seem to be just the _best _at frightening the wits out of people, Amu!"

Twitching at the partly-insult, she shoved Yaya's hugging arms away from her, only to be caught in a timid hug by Rima. She awkwardly patted the girls back with faint smile. "Thank you Amu," she whispered.

"Not too bad, kid," Ikuto complimented with crossed arms and an impressed smirk, once Rima separated from the pink-haired first-year. "Not too bad."

"I learned from the best, Tsukiyomi," Amu replied, facing him with a confident, proud smirk of her own. "I learned from the best."

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

**Thumbs up to anyone of you who can guess who the anonymous guy is. Though I think it's pretty obvious. First, Id like to apologize for creating such a long pause before posting a new chapter, but I was in Islamabad for a few weeks, where, btw, I couldn't find internet access. Second, I'm quite sure that the OOC-ness is pretty prominent, but keep in mind that this was an original story converted into a fanfic, and probably, in a few chapters, the OOC-ness will start to dissipate :). Thank you and Ja Ne!**

**-- Moonlight Gal**


	5. Chapter 5:Five Roommates, Stuck Together

Disclaimer: I do not own Shugo Chara!

**kanameXakari: I'm quite glad you think so, especially since I intend to carry on this story ahead to maybe even more than 20 chapters!**

**xXbunnyholicXx: Personally, I've never really thought of OOC-ness as a positive point, but I'm really happy you think of it as something that makes this story more interesting! Arigatou Gozaimasu!**

**sylvanicara: Really? O.O I never thought sumthing like this would be in another story. Mainly because this wasn't really supposed to be a SC fanfic, but an original story. Ah well :D Glad you enjoyed reading it!**

**luv2sing27865: Thank you! I appreciate that!!! :)**

**appupuppu: Yup! You guessed right! It's Nagi! With, again, a LOT of OOC-ness... but I guess I can't really help it, for reasons I've mentioned before. Anyway, Arigatou for reading and reviewing! It's very encouraging :)**

**sylvanicara: Well, you're right about Nagihiko too. I hope you enjoy reading this chapter too :D**

**Chessgamer2: Here's your wish then, Chess-chan ;p The characters, btw, might take a fairly long time to come out, gomenasai, because I have specific roles for them that might not come into use until a longer time. Please enjoy this chapter!**

**--**

A pale, pink-haired 15-year old girl groggily laid on a normal-sized, white-colored bed in her airy dorm, honey-golden eyes droopily staring at the off-white fan rotate, feeling herself get lost in the pattern. Head resting on her crossed arms, Amu Hinamori felt her eyelids unconsciously dropping.

She slowly re-opened them, and sighed in irritation, propping up on her elbows. "What am I? A vampire?" she complained, stealing a glance at the golden and pink wall clock Rima had courteously taken the responsibility of hanging. "It's 3 pm, and all I can think of is _sleep_?"

She shook her head in disapproval, hastily pushing herself off the bed, and trudging over to her red and black bag sitting silently in the corner.

'_To think, I haven't even unpacked yet,' _she frowned, digging through the untidy pile of clothing to search for something decent, finally pulling out a pair of faded, loose-fitted jeans, to go along with a three-quarter sleeved black T-shirt with a silver skull at the corner.

Yaya and Rima weren't the type to bunk classes, she knew. They invited her to think it over, trying to convince her to avoid skipping, but she had flat-out refused, wanting to catch some rest and relaxation.

'_I'm regretting it now, though…' _Amu sighed for about the 10th time. _'At least then, I wouldn't be bored enough to think suicide could be _fun._'_

With that last pessimistic thought, she rushed out of the dorm room with her hands composedly stuffed in her pockets.

Quietly and expertly moving ahead from under the windows of each classroom and rushing skillfully ahead of all the doors, she dodged the suspicious glances she knew she was bound to receive, from those teachers that were sharp enough to catch the tiny sounds of her small, cat-like movements.

Golden eyes glanced left and right in alarm, before their wielder artfully pounced into the blooming backyard of the college, decorated with sunflowers and daisies of all sizes, and tall, shady oak and fir trees.

"Damn," she whispered, pushing away a few branches. "If I get caught by some stinking janitor or guard or something, I am _so _out of this place before I get expelled by the old hag."

Easily jumping over the brick wall opposite of the black-painted main gate, she crouched behind the wide bark of a tree, waiting for a second to see if anyone from the campus would spot her.

'_Okay,' _she stood up calmly, so as not to arouse any suspicion, dusting her jeans free of any dirt. _'Coast is clear.'_

Shoving her hands in her pockets like before, Amu started wandering around in the busy streets, inwardly glad to have escaped without being caught and suspended. She easily ignored the strange looks she received from people, knowing she would have to deal with them beforehand. The girl was used to them anyway.

After a few minutes, she began to feel an embarrassing rumble in her empty stomach. Clutching it angrily, Amu cringed. _'Why now?_'

Sighing hopelessly, she turned around and began to make her way to a small, food-selling stall she had spotted earlier when she walked by it. Fishing inside her pocket, she slammed the money down in front of the salesman, unintentionally loud.

"Just give me some random stuff to eat, kid," she droned tiredly with impatient eyes. "No specifics."

"Y-yes," the apparently 13-year old boy stuttered, and, for a moment, Amu recalled Yaya's comment about her being unbelievably good at scaring people. She soon shook it off though, pocketing the snacks the trembling boy had presented in front of her, and was on her way.

"Guys," she sighed, "are so freaking _wimpy_."

"Hey hey, not _all _boys are like that, Mademoiselle." She heard another male, teasing voice from behind her, and soon twitched in annoyance when she recognized the voice, sighing helplessly.

"Are you stalking me or something?" she scowled, though inwardly happy, since she had some company now, however, that didn't mean she would admit it to _him, _of all people. Not that she was admitting it to herself.

Ikuto Tsukiyomi shrugged, unbothered by the remark. "Can't say no, I guess." He joked.

"W-what!?" Amu sputtered, choking on her own saliva.

"Relax, Amu, it was a joke," he grinned amusedly at Amu's relieved sigh, then suddenly, his clear, dark-blue eyes widened, as if realization had just struck him. "Hey, wait a minute… kid, you bunking!?"

"So?" Amu answered back, unfazed. "So are you."

"I _always _bunk. Well, not always, but you get what I mean," he responded. "But you… you're a _girl_!"

"So?" she raised a slender eyebrow in carefully concealed confusion. "Can't a girl bunk?"

"Exactly my point," Ikuto pointed a finger straight at Amu, one inch away from actually making physical contact with her, but the finger was harshly slapped away. "A girl _can't _bunk! I've _never, ever _seen a girl skipping a whole day of classes! I mean, they just don't have enough guts!"

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Amu growled, narrowing her eyes angrily at Ikuto, who muttered an inaudible 'oops'. "Are you saying all girls are _wimps_, Tsukiyomi!?"

"No no, you're getting the wrong idea. I never said that!" Ikuto's eyes widened in alarm as Amu advanced towards him threateningly. "I just… I've just never seen a girl outside college during studying hours, that's all."

"Well, you have now," she sarcastically said, patting him on the shoulder, intentionally hard. "Congratulations."

Despite the intentional hit disguised as a pat, he felt a faint, pink blush dusting his cheeks; perhaps because it was his first time making physical contact with her? Other than her clutching his collar threateningly the last time. But after recovering from his temporary spell, he rushed on to catch up to Amu, who had long ago passed him.

'_Probably just instinct,' _he reasoned logically, before opting to just take silent steps beside Amu. He was lost in his own thoughts, trying to reach deep within his mind for an answer to the dissatisfaction he was feeling.

He tried stealing a glance at Amu, only to find her missing. He jerked his head upwards, snapping his head left and right, before he heard her voice addressing him.

"Tsukiyomi," she began, as Ikuto looked behind him to find a confused Amu, arms crossed. "I don't get you."

"Huh?" Ikuto blinked at Amu's furrowed brows and slight frown plastered on her face. She was staring at him as if he had committed a sin against her. "What?"

She sighed, and slowly walked towards him, stopping just in front of him, and intensely meeting his eyes, enough to make that unwanted blush return for just a moment. Though, it seemed like she hadn't taken any notice of it, luckily.

"W-what?" she didn't pay any special attention to his slight stammer either, as he drew back slightly.

"I don't know, it's just," she drew back herself and shrugged carelessly, dismissing the matter as something insignificant. "I guess, I'm just not used to you… _not _being your usual, moronic, idiotic self. It felt weird to have you look so… _serious_. That's all."

She suddenly turned her head sharply, looking at him with challenging eyes. "_Don't _do it again."

Her words sinking in, his eyes blinked again and again, before he felt a warm sensation on his cheeks for the third time that day. Ikuto immediately turned his back to her.

'_Shit,' _he frantically thought in alarm. _'Not _this _again!'_

"Tsukiyomi?" Amu raised a delicate eyebrow, trying to catch a glance at his hidden face. "Dude, you okay?"

"Yeah," he answered firmly. "Yeah, I'm fin—"

"Stop it!" Ikuto's response was suddenly interrupted by another shaky scream from nearby. Both teens hastily turned around, and caught sight of a gang of four boys, looking to be about 19 or 20 years old, grinning tyrannically, and mercilessly pushing and kicking another younger boy, who was attempting to shield himself, but the few balls of tears at the corner of his eyes stated that it clearly wasn't working.

"Amu," Ikuto said seriously, grabbing Amu's arm gently. "Let's get out of here." He didn't want them to be involved in something that wasn't their business, neither did he want _her _to get hurt. He intended to rush back-- without letting her know, of course-- after delivering Amu to safety, but her next words smashed that decision to bits.

"What? You can't be serious!" Her arm was harshly jerked out of his grasp, and he was met with eyes filled with rage and determination. "You expect me to just leave that defenseless kid alone!? Are you nuts!?"

"No, _you _can't be serious!" Ikuto argued back, eyes holding a strong sense of authority and firmness, but that failed to unnerve Amu "You will _not _get involved in this."

"Yes, I will, Ikuto," she narrowed her eyes and faced him head on, "Whether you like it, or not."

His eyes changed from firmness to pleading. "_Please _Amu—" But before he could try and convince her any further, she ran off immediately.

"Hey! You jerks!" Amu shouted with her hands cupped around her mouth, determination not fading. "Pick on someone your own size, _wimps_!"

"Crap…" Ikuto cursed under his breath, before cupping his own hands around his mouth, and shouting out to Amu at the top of his lungs. "Amu! What the hell do you think you're doing!? You're going to get yourself hurt, stupid girl!"

One of the burly boys faced Amu, who paid no heed to Ikuto's words, and clicked his tongue, smirking. "You ought to listen to your boyfriend, girlie, you want to get yourself hurt? 'Cause I'm all for it."

Amu scoffed. "You think so? Well, guess what?" she faced him confidently. "You won't lay a hand on me."

The boys laughed and snorted maniacally. "That so? Just what're you going to do, then?"

"You think just because you beat up that _little kid_ over there, you can take _me _on?" she coldly laughed at them, mocking their victory. "Cowards, _that's _what you are. And if you don't believe it," she took a fighting position and motioned them to come get her, "I'll prove it to you."

The four of them lunged at her all at once, but, being who she was, Amu wished to fight head on, even if she thought she was unprepared. True, she had little experience in fighting, but she knew that wouldn't stop her. Besides, these boys were barely older than her anyway.

She ducked to avoid a sloppy punch thrown at her. As it turned out, the boys were just experienced in bullying, not really fighting, so she figured she had the upper hand.

Digging her shoe deeply into his foot with all her might, she relished in hearing the boy yelp loudly, sinking to his knees, clutching his damaged foot.

Her eyes widened when she felt a harsh, powerful slap hit her face. Coughing, the girl covered her mouth, eyes widening again when she felt a crimson liquid seep between her fingers. Wiping it calmly, she narrowed her eyes dangerously at the laughing boy who hit her, unexpectedly grabbing him by his shirt, and meeting him with eyes that showed barely-contained rage, coupled with an odd, bitter smile.

"You hit me," she calmly said, gripping his chubby face with her free hand, making sure to claw her nails into his cheeks, as he winced. "Kid, _nobody _hits me. Now, unfortunately, the little respect I held for you since you're older than me," she suddenly scowled, throwing him down on the hard, cold ground unsympathetically, as he barely suppressed a cry of pain, "is gone."

The two remaining boys immediately tried to grab for her, but before she could try stopping them with a heart-stopping death glare, they were callously kicked to the ground, by none other than Ikuto Tsukiyomi.

"I-Ikuto?" she was shocked, safe to say, when Ikuto smiled at her (with a hint of a smirk), scratching the back of his head, which reminded her of their first meeting, only this time, she felt like the embarrassed blush was genuine.

"Sorry, can't let a lady fight alone, can I?" Ikuto explained, as Amu snorted.

"I could've handled them myself," she murmured.

"I know. Believe me, I know," Ikuto smiled at her, with apologetic eyes. "But… couldn't help it, I guess."

"Couldn't help it?" Amu confusedly repeated, raising a brow in amusement.

"I just…" he lowered his head slightly, and turned it to the side. "Didn't want to see you get hurt… or anything…" his mumbled words barely reached Amu's ears, but when they did, she smiled genuinely.

"You're not as bad as your playboy image makes you out to be," she offered, satisfied at seeing the 'playboy' snap his head upwards at her sincere words. "You're a nice guy, Tsukiyomi."

"Oh," Ikuto suddenly returned to his usual self, lopsidedly smirking at the girl and fluttering over to her. "So, it's back to 'Tsukiyomi' now?"

"Oh," Amu mimicked. "So, back to your stupid, jerky self now?"

As they travelled back to the college arguing and insulting, Amu couldn't help but feel an unusual gratefulness spreading inside her for having the raven-haired boy beside her now.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

"_I'm quite lucky, I think,' _Rima Mashiro mused, secretly smiling in her own timid, shy way, _'Having spare periods thrice a week. That's quite a catch.'_

She seated herself at the edge of the marble stairs, resting her chin on her interlaced fingers. "I've been working extra-hard this year too. I wonder," her smile suddenly turned bittersweet, "If father will be pleased."

Lost in her thoughts, she failed to notice the sound of footsteps coming towards her, neither did she feel the silent tears that had started unexpectedly gliding down her cheeks.

Nagihiko Fujisaki suddenly stopped dead in his tracks, frozen for a moment when he spotted the 'spineless girl', as previously nicknamed by him, sitting on the stairs, smiling, but with an onslaught of tears continuously streaming down her cheeks.

They failed, however, to actually _move_ him, they simply _shocked_ him. He leaned on the cold wall of the corridor, expecting to hear a girlish drama from the girl, but what was truly discovered, had _really _shocked the long-haired boy.

"Father… would he even care?" she whispered. "I wonder… if mother would. No, I'm _sure_ she would, if she were here. If she were here, maybe…. just maybe… I wouldn't have had…" she slowly, hesitantly moved up the full sleeve of the shirt she was wearing underneath, to reveal her arm covered partly with nasty, purple bruises and scratches, "Had _these_."

The dark-haired boy's eyes immediately widened at spotting them, and he started straining his ears to hear her whispered words. _'Where did she…?'_

"Maybe… then…" her voice started cracking, but her smile didn't disappear. "I wouldn't have to… to," she uncomfortably fingered the high-neck shirt she was wearing underneath as well, "Wear all _this_. T-to hide… those… s-scars…"

'_He tried to _strangle _her, his own daughter!?' _He watched her carefully, hoping she wouldn't notice his scrutiny.

"I could… roam around freely…" Rima smile remained, but her voice started getting louder, but shakier. "With my hair… all tied up. And… and my arms and neck…" she caressed her arms softly. "But… I can't. Not with… no…"

Nagihiko breathed in deeply, leaning against the wall, trying to even out his breathing. This 'spineless' girl was more similar to him than he had originally thought. No, his father never abused him, scarred him, or wounded him. Not physically, anyway. Emotionally, though, he did. That was undeniable.

'_Or rather,' _Nagihiko thought bitterly, his thoughts directed towards his father like a venomous knife, _'Wounded my mother. My undeserving mother, undeserving of the pain he caused her by… by marrying that… that home-wrecker of a wife." _

His eyes darkened. _'They're all the same,' _he thought, directing his thoughts towards the daughter of that 'home-wrecker of a wife'. _'That woman… she destroyed my mother. I'm not letting her go. I'll get her, I swear I will, and her mistake of a daughter too.'_

The golden-eyed boy simply refused to refer to the 'mistake of a daughter' as his own half-sister. Or more specifically, Yaya Yuiki.

He knew that the clueless girl had no idea that her mother was her father's _second_ wife. The first one, unfortunately, had given birth to a boy known as Nagihiko Fujisaki, before having her life turned into hell by her own husband, before he divorced her, even after punishing her numerously for asking _him _for a divorce first. Nagihiko, undoubtedly, had a hard time dealing with a depressed mother, and a non-existent father.

His father had soon remarried, beginning a successful business, and removing all traces of his previous wife from the tabloids and gossip news with a wad of cash, and soon finding himself the father of a beautiful daughter, Yaya Yuiki.

A daughter that his forgotten son planned to destroy emotionally, like his father had done to his mother, if not to take revenge on the daughter herself, then at least on her father, indirectly.

"I'll destroy her," he whispered decidedly, not noticing the pair of honey-golden eyes, similar to his own, that widened once Rima's sensitive ears caught his whisper.

She abruptly wiped away her tears, not caring if the assault was peeling the skin of her raw cheeks slightly. She stood up, and smiled innocently, however, it was laced with worry.

"U-uh," she stuttered nervously. "Hello. Is… is there anything you—"

"I heard," he plainly declared, "Everything."

Rima's eyes desperately widened, staring at Nagihiko in horror. Her shoulders started shaking slightly, before her knees buckled and she collapsed on the floor, desperately trying to muffle her sobs.

She screwed her eyes shut, and clawed at her throat, trying to stop the painful, intense burning inside it. Lowering her head, she was somewhat glad that her lengthy tresses were shielding her face partly.

"Don't." She jerked up her head when she heard his demand, shocked to see more coldness in the depths of his eyes than she had ever seen before. Neither did he extend a hand out to her, nor could she spot any pity in his eyes. They never softened.

"Who do you think you are?" He narrowed his eyes at her loathsomely. "You think just because your father abused you, and your mother died, everyone's going to feel sorry for you? Do you expect everyone to pity you? Well, sorry, but if you're searching for sympathy, I'm all out."

Fasting than lightning, she had forgotten her tears for a minute, in which she connected her palm with his cheek, imprinting a red mark on his left one. These rare moments of unadulterated rage came by seldom, rather, this was the first time she had gone as far as to physically harm a boy.

"No, _I'm _sorry," she responded, amber eyes narrowed at him, as if hurling mental profanities at him, contrary to her polite tone. "I'm sorry if you got the idea that I wanted you to take pity on me, because I _don't_. Neither do I drown myself in self-sympathy, nor do I expect others to lend it to me, because I most definitely don't think I have a _reason_ to."

"Oh? I see, so you're trying to seem all _brave and tough_?" Nagihiko confidently supposed. "Even _I _can't disagree with the fact that your own _father_ abusing you is—"

"That maybe so," Rima argued back. "But, just because my father abuses me, hurts me, wounds me, scars me, does not mean, whatsoever, that I have stopped to love him."

Now _that, _undeniably, took Nagihiko by surprise. He left his shoulders slump, and his eyes go wide at the girl's surprising words.

"I still, and always _will, _love my father. Because no matter what happens, he still _is _my father… he'll always be," With that, she brushed past him, leaving him to gather his wits alone.

"She still loves him?" He murmured, thinking of his own situation. "How can she? How come _I _can't? I _detest _my father. _Despise _him. Why doesn't _she _choose to do the same with her own?"

He raised his hands and stared at him. "Am I really... _that_ hateful?" He then paused, and turned around, burning two holes with his intense eyes in Rima's retreating back. "Or… is _she _just that unbelievably kind-hearted?"

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	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: I don't own SC. There.

**xXbunnyholicXx: hehe, amuto and rimahiko are definitely a must, no? Though I kinda feel sad leaving Yaya all alone T.T Ah well, she'll be paired up eventually, ne? Well, nagi and yaya being half-siblings wasn't technically what I had in mind for this fic. But, like I said, it's hard to change an entire plot for the characters, dont u think? At least it's out of the box :D Arigatou for pointing out that mistake, abt the troy/ikuto thing, btw. I appreciate it! I'll try to make the characters less ooc for u, but for now, please enjoy!!**

**: Thank u very much for ur support! Well, honestly, I just made the ''girls don't bunk'' thing up --scratches head-- I've never really been to a dorm college b4, so i wouldn't know. BUT, it's true that chauvinists really piss me off :( if u ask me, boys have more strength physically, but girls are way stronger than boys mentally. So it's equal :)**

**luv2sing27865: Awwwww, really, mentioning u is no big deal --hugs-- and thanks a whole lot for the writing-style compliment. It means a lot to me. I hope reading this chapter makes u happy. Enjoy!**

**sylvanicara: Rima really WAS amazing wasn't she (take THAT, Nagi!!!)? Ikuto and Amu too. Romance is on the way! Enjoy!**

**Star Serenade: Really??? U really love it that much??? --Hugs-- ARIGATOU STAR-CHAN!! I'll update as fast as I can, I promise!!! I just hope I don't let you down with the upcoming chapters. Please enjoy!**

**TsukiyomiAlikutoMissaWatusi: I'm so glad u like it!!!! I didn't think it was that good!!! Really, it's people like you that have me going like this!!! You deserve as much credit as I do for this. Please enjoy yourself whole-heartedly when reading this!!!**

**HeartsTamago: Arigatou gozaimasu! I'm really happy u think that! And thank you for pointing out that mistake. I owe you! I don't know if this story is that deserving or not, but with the reviews u give me, I doubt I need any more :D!! I'm extremely happy! Please enjoy this chapter!**

**black neko hime: Awsomeness, huh? XD Thank u for that. I hope u continue to read this story and enjoy it just as much. Please treat me kindly!**

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"Oh…" A ginger-haired girl with fair, peachy skin teased, nudging an irritated honey-eyed rosette with suggestive eyebrows. "So… you and Ikuto _both _skipped, _just _you two, as in, _only _you and Ikuto?"

"Yeah," Amu Hinamori answered tiredly and bluntly. "So? Got a problem with it?"

"Uh, _yeah_," A grinning Yaya Yuiki rolled her eyes, "Details, Amu-chin. I need details."

"Amu-chin? That's gross, Yaya," Amu responded in feigned disgust. "Besides, I don't intend to give you any of the so-called 'details'. Not now, not ever."

"Ah, I see…" Yaya squealed. "Because you guys did all that mushy, sappy stuff, didn't you? Did you guys kiss!? Tell me!"

Amu twitched at her sort-of friend's assumption, shaking her head wildly after imagining her and Ikuto Tsukiyomi doing Yaya's perspective of 'mushy, sappy stuff'. "No. That's not it, at _all. _There's just nothing to give you details _about. _There was no 'special' moment where we confessed our love for each other, or anything. As a matter of fact, I'm sure you know I _hate_ Tsukiyomi."

"Sure sure," Yaya waved a French-manicured finger dismissively. "You say that _now_. Just you wait, I'll pull it out of you. I'm _amazing_ at manipulation, you know."

"Yeah," Amu sarcastically murmured. "I can see that pretty well."

"Geez, Amu-chin, you're so _boring_," Yaya complained. "Why'd Rima have to leave me with _you _all alone?"

"It's not I'm enjoying this," Amu sharply replied. "I'd rather be with—"

"Ikuto?" Yaya interrupted with a teasing voice.

"No, damn it! Don't bring him into everything!" Amu banged an annoyed fist on the dark-brown side-table.

"Are you _defending_ him, then?" Yaya Yuiki asked with genuine hope in her eyes for her anti-social roommate, just as an exhausted Rima walked into the dorm with her hands full with shoppers containing nearly all kinds of food.

"Where were you!?" Amu shot up immediately and raced over to the petite girl, pointing an accusing finger at Yaya. "_Damn you _to _hell_ for leaving me here with her!"

"Eh?" Rima's confused eyes widened as 'peace-maker of dorm 324' faced the accusatory shouting between her two friends. "Wait… what?"

"Geez," A fair, long-haired boy complained, walking into the room, sighing, "Just my luck to be stuck with a bunch of squabbling idiots."

"Oh yeah," Amu retorted back with agitation, "And just _my _luck to be stuck with an _anti-social bastard_, yeah?"

Instead of snapping back, he ignored Amu and dragged his feet past them, snatching a packet of chips from Rima on the way.

"Oi!" Yaya yelled. "Get back here with those, Nagi!"

Rima stopped her friend from completely standing up to chase after him by gripping her elbow, and smiled kind-heartedly. "It's okay. I brought them for everyone, remember?"

"But," Yaya protested. "Those are your favorites, aren't they?"

"Yes, but—" Rima's statement was interrupted when the packet of chips was carelessly thrown into her lap.

"H-huh?" she stared down at them, as if unbelieving of what she saw.

"There," Nagihiko responded to her unasked question, his back still turned to her. "Do what you want with them."

"Thank… thank you," Rima replied gratefully, clutching the pack with a light-pink blush. "But, you can have it… if you want…" Unfortunately, he had already shoved his hands on his pockets and began distancing himself from the three girls until the point where he could no longer hear Rima's shy, thankful whispers.

"Wow," Yaya murmured amazedly. "He's not as much as a jerk as I originally thought he was."

"Blah," Amu disagreed, "He's just going _sweet_ on Rima, I bet."

"Of course he's not!" Rima disbelievingly opposed, an enormous blush reddening her cheeks. "That's not the case at _all, _I'm sure!"

"_You're _sure," Amu, unfazed by Rima's outburst, muttered, pointing at Rima, before directing her finger at the route on which Nagihiko had just left, "But _he's _not."

Rima began making patterns on the plum-colored carpet with an opposing pout and still-red cheeks.

"That's… not it…" she murmured, thinking back to their last secret-disclosing meeting. "Fact is… I think… he figured out something about me… something important… that even _you _guys don't know."

Yaya gasped dramatically, underestimating the issue, and joked, "That's _terrible _of you! How _could _you!?"

"Quit it," Amu irritably shoved an arm thrown on her shoulders by Yaya, who was currently busy making sounds of a fake bawl.

"Y-Yaya…" A worried Rima, apparently, naively bought the act meant as a joke.

"Well…" Yaya faked sniffing noises, "To make it up to us, you'll have to treat us to a trip to the mall tomorrow."

Expecting Rima to refuse immediately, Yaya was delightfully surprised when Rima happily replied, "Of course! I'd love to!"

"Really? Are you serious?" Yaya raised her head up from her arms, previous act totally forgotten, grinning in ecstasy. "Awesome!"

Amu snorted. "Shopaholic…" she insulted… a statement that was pointedly ignored by Yaya.

"Oh, you are _so _the greatest, Rima-tan!" Yaya squealed excitedly, immediately enveloping Rima in a friendly, tight hug.

"Rima-tan?" Amu snorted, "Could've come up with a better nickname, at least."

"Are you jealous?" Yaya smirked, loosening her hug slightly to glance at Amu, who shrugged at the question.

"Not really, no," she answered loosely.

"That underlying tone of envy _confirms_ it!" Yaya pointed a slender finger in Amu's direction, grinning triumphantly all the while.

Amu Hinamori raised an eyebrow at the suddenly hyper-active ginger-head. "What'underlying tone of envy'?" she inquired in confusion.

"No worries, then," Yaya continued, unintentionally ignoring the golden-eyed teen's statements. "I'd already given you one before. Remember, _Amu-chin_?"

"Yuck!" Amu's face contorted into an expression of disgust. "Spare me!"

"C'mon! You gotta admit: it _is _cute! Rima-tan," Yaya glanced at Rima for support, "A little support?"

"Of course," Rima offered. "But right now, how about forgetting nicknames and remembering my promise?"

"Huh?" Yaya confusedly queried, "P-promise?"

"Idiot," Amu sighed, exasperated. "_You're _the one who was so worked up about it," When Yaya looked at her oddly, she decided to bluntly spit it out, "The shopping trip, moron, the shopping trip."

"Wait, we're going _now_!?" Rima and Amu nodded at Yaya's delighted exclamation, as she looked left and right at both of them.

"Yes," Rima smiled serenely at Yaya's excited expression, "I'll be fun. Just the three of us, don't you agree?"

"Yeah, yeah, it _will _be!" Yaya shot up immediately, grabbing her friends' arms as she did, and pulling them up as well. "Can we go now?"

"Stop it," Amu hissed, snatching her arm away. "Don't be so annoying."

"I'm _not_!" Yaya whined childishly, like a little girl who had been scolded by her mother for something she didn't do.

"Let's go," Amu sighed to Rima, while Yaya, in return, squealed eagerly, "If it's the only way to shut _this idiot_ up."

"Great!" Yaya approved, overlooking Amu's insult completely. "Let's move it!"

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"This place," Amu Hinamori openly gawked at the surrounding busy shops and noisy hustle bustle around her with wide-open eyes, "is _huge_."

"Well, obviously," Yaya Yuiki raised an eyebrow at Amu's shock, and snorted mockingly at her oncoming joke, "Seems like you've never been to a _mall _before."

When the subject of the 'joke' turned to look at her with slightly expectant, honey-coloured eyes and a raised brow, Yaya nearly choked on her own saliva. "You… you've never been to a… a _mall_ before!? You're not serious, are you!?"

"I'm dead serious," Amu wryly responded, "What's the big deal?"

"You… you poor, deprived, pitiful child!" Yaya cupped Amu's annoyed face with her two hands, taking no notice of Amu's left eye twitching quite madly, however, Rima did.

"Um… Amu?" Rima's face grew concerned. "Is there something wrong with your eye? We can go home, if you want."

"No, thank you," Amu hissed through tightly clenched teeth, deeply uncomfortable, "But… I'd _really _appreciate it, if… if you could get this… _thing, _off of me."

"Oh?" Rima tilted her head in confusion slightly, before realization struck her like a bolt of lightning. "_Oh. _Well… uh, I'm not sure if I'm exactly… _capable_ of—"

"Please," the pink-haired girl pleaded, seemed to be frozen stiff, "Get her off me…"

To say the least, Rima Mashiro was much surprised by Amu's desperate tone, stiff posture, and uncomfortable expression. Rima knew that no matter how much of an annoying pain Amu pretended Yaya was, it wasn't enough to almost bring the usually unnerved girl to the verge of tears.

"Yaya, I believe it's time we head over to that boutique there," Rima offered, just after throwing a suspicious glance at Amu, "Don't you think so?"

"Definitely," Yaya abandoned Amu's previously-cupped face in a heartbeat, skipping over to the boutique Rima's finger was pointing at.

"We'll talk," Rima secretly murmured to Amu before quickly hurrying to catch up with Yaya, with Amu close behind.

Pushing open the transparent double doors of the large and rather girlish boutique with uncontained glee, Yaya raced towards a rack holding a particular hot pink, puffy-sleeved top that caught her keen eye.

"Look at this!" she exclaimed gleefully, turning her head towards the two girls behind her, who weren't nearly as enthusiastic as Yaya, "Won't this look _amazing_ on you, Rima-tan? Go try it on!"

"Huh?" Rima managed to blurt out before, in a blur, a top was pushed into her hands and she herself was pushed towards the trying room.

She, at first, was hesitant to allow Yaya to do what she was doing, but when the realization hit her that it may serve as an opportunity to talk privately with Amu, she complied with her request, just after sending Amu a glance that portrayed Rima's demand for her to come into the trying room to talk.

"Uh, listen…" Amu interrupted Yaya's rant about how she should try on something other than black sometimes, "I have to… uh… go try this on, okay?" she grabbed and held up a random top, and raced off to the same trying room Rima was in before Yaya could reply.

"Huh?" Yaya immediately stopped her unwanted speech, somewhat dumfounded, "Wow… you finally chose something, Amu-chin? Well then, shoo! Go, try it on! Go!"

"I'm going! I'm going, okay?!" Amu willed her feet to move without Yaya forcing them to do so.

Her feet shuffled, as quietly as possible, to a silently beckoning Rima, with hopes that Yaya wouldn't notice, which was quite likely, due to the girl gushing like a giddy schoolgirl over a baby blue, frilly skirt with a matching golden belt.

"Phew," Amu irritably sighed, leaning against the try room door after closing it with as little sound as possible, and looked towards Rima expectantly. "So? I'm waiting."

"Well, I suppose you'll probably think this isn't such a big deal, but," The blonde-haired girl explained nervously, "I'm concerned about you, Amu. I'm pretty sure the way you stiffened up when Yaya made contact with you, wasn't just due to some pretty-girl-phobia or anything."

Amu stiffened at the sudden contact, frowning, and pushed a lock of hair behind her ear, staring at the ground as if her sight was glued to it. "That's not…" she suddenly sighed, "Call Yaya."

"Huh?" Rima confusedly said, surprised. "Why? What—"

"Just do it," she intervened. "I owe you two a proper explanation."

Although still confused, Rima peeked out of the trying room, smacking her hand on her forehead in slight exasperation when she caught Yaya talking to a nearby saleswoman.

"Um," she began, turning back to Amu. "There's a slight pro—" she was cut off as she felt Amu's silky tresses brushing her nose as the owner herself brushed past her with ease.

Amu marched over to an engrossed Yaya, gripping her elbow and dragging her away, ignoring the confused looks from her and the saleswoman. "Get over here," she mumbled irritably.

"What… what's going on?" Yaya snapped her head left and right, glancing first at Rima, then at Amu. Rima offered her a shrug as an answer, and Amu a sigh.

"Open up your ears, and listen good, because I'm not going to repeat this," she glared warningly at Yaya, who opened her mouth slightly, as if to intervene, "And _no _interruptions."

After seeing Yaya nod, the suddenly nervous teen attempted to start with an involuntary sigh. "Okay… uh… first, do any of you have any siblings?" Rima and Yaya shook their heads. "Great," Amu secretly complained in a murmur, "That just makes it _so _much easier."

"Don't tell me this is about some childish sibling rivalry," Yaya scoffed, unnoticing of Amu's sudden threatening, dark glare. "I thought you were better than—"

"Childish sibling rivalry, is it? Is _that _how you put it?" Amu coldly retorted, with the bitter smile she was famous for. "Well, maybe it is," Yaya's eyes widened at this. "That is, if you call resenting your sister and mother for forcing you to be like _them _'sibling rivalry'_."_

"I… I don't under—" Rima's words were halted by a pale finger raised, reminding her of Amu's previous demand.

"Look, just take it as what you hear in fairytales, tragic little princess tales. Except I'm no princess, not even close to it," she explained, quite calmly. "Father dies, mother remarries, stepsister bullies, then prince sweeps her off her feet, right?"

Her eyes grew cold. "Except, my mother never remarried, my sister is blood-related, and there's no prince to sweep me off my feet. You know why, though?" A chuckle of irony escaped her lips, dry of any humor, "Because I'm no pushover like Cinderella."

Rima blinked back tears of confusion. "I'm not going to wipe their floors, and dust their mats, just because they told me to. And I'm definitely _not _going to try being their perfect, A-grade fairy just because they want me to 'fit in' with them."

"But," she continued, glancing at Yaya all of a sudden. "Maybe… I ought to consider myself a hypocrite for saying what I said to you back then," Both girls searched their minds for the previous incident that was currently being discussed, "I guess… I let societal pressure affect _me _too, just in a different way."

"What do you mean?" Rima whispered, barely audible. But she couldn't help but notice that Yaya had been quiet for a long period of time now.

"Simple," Amu shrugged, gesturing at herself, "Maybe I would've been more like _you_ guys if I hadn't been so rebellious to my mother: A little girly, optimistic, cheerful, right?"

"Wrong," Amu and Rima's attention drew to the sudden word Yaya uttered. "You _wouldn't _have. You'd still be gothic. You'd still be stubborn. You'd still be annoyingly sarcastic. You'd still be harsh and uncaring…"

She raised her head up to playfully stick her tongue out at Amu, "Because that's _you, _isn't it?" Two pairs of honey-golden eyes widened. "More importantly, it's a 'you' we _like_. Right, Rima?"

Rima vigorously nodded, "Yeah!"

"It's… a 'me' you like… is it?" Amu's lips very slowly stretched to form an unconscious, faint smile, before she became aware of it and threw open the trying room door, stepping out with a turned, embarrassed head. "Well, obviously! Of course you do! If you didn't, I'd never have even bothered with you in the first place!"

"Exactly," Yaya snapped back jokingly, "Because _that's _just the stubborn 'you' you are!"

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**Well, a bit of Yaya's childish side is peeking out, huh? I wish the gentlemanly Nagi could work out in this. -Sniff- I'm so sorry for doing this to you Nagi... anyway, I tried to fix his character as much as I could in this chap. But for it too be completely fixed, ur gona have 2 wait til after chapter 8 or 9. **

**On a side note...**

**DID ANYONE SEE CHAPTER 43 OF SHUGO CHARA??? OH MY GOD!!!!!! SPOILER ALERT. DO NOT READ IF YOU HAVEN'T COMPLETED CHAPTER 43 I can't believe Ikuto confessed! It was so cute, the whole ''I'm going to make u fall in love with me'' thing, don't u think? I hope he comes back in the next chapter. 3rd Sep, huh? --sigh-- they just love torturing us, don't they? Fortunately, Skip Beat! comes out on 5th Aug too! So I'll be saved for a day or so, at least. I wonder wen Vampire Knight chapter 53 comes out too.... **


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: I do not own SC.

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The silver crescent moon, coupled with the few twinkling stars of the navy blue night-sky, were spread beautifully above the heads of many people of all ages roaming around the city at the time. These people also, apparently, included Amu Hinamori.

The 15 year-old girl quietly slipped in and out of a few attractive places, her light footsteps not unlike a trained, elegant cat's, even though she took them in that manner unconsciously.

She raised her wrist to her elbow's level, and her gold-like eyes fell upon the bright, green numbers on her watch blinking 8:46 pm.

"There's still time," Amu murmured to herself, lowering the wristwatch. "I'll go back after a few more minutes."

She carried on, carrying herself with unintentional grace, but stopped immediately with narrowed eyes after hearing an almost inaudible sound, most probably of a stray cat, from behind the bushes and under-developed trees a few meters away from Amu.

After a few seconds of hesitation and contemplation, she took _intentionally _silent steps this time, and advanced towards the sudden sound, pressing her back against the bark of one of the nearby trees, and peeked out, realizing that she would probably receive a clear view of whatever was causing the barely audible noise.

"What in the…?" Amu's eyes narrowed and her nose crunched up in concentration, as she attempted to get a closer look at the object a few feet away from her, "No way. That can't be _him, _of all people, not if_ I_ know him."

Watching the blackish-blue haired boy kneeling down in front of something that resembled something of a kitten, carrying something in his out-stretched hand that Amu couldn't recognize, the pink-haired girl sighed. "Then again, I don't _really _know him."

Deciding to quit hiding in the shadows, she stepped out from behind the tree and nonchalantly began walking.

"Hey!" Amu called out, as Ikuto Tsukiyomi faced her suddenly. "Tsu—"

Her words suddenly caught in her throat when he aimed a glare at her and lifted a finger to his lips, as a sign to quiet down.

"A little louder, why don't you?" Ikuto whispered sarcastically. "Go ahead, scare the little guy away, Demon-Girl."

"D-Demon-Girl?!" she alarmingly whispered back, her usually-pale face turning slightly red. "Mind your language, you perverted, uncouth prick! I don't see any 'little guy' here anyway!"

"I guess I should label you as _blind_ then," Ikuto bit back, pointing at a small, fury kitten with large, innocent, yellow eyes and black fur sitting I front of him with a wagging, slender tail.

"What are you? Harassing the poor thing?" It was the first thing that attacked her mind, actually.

"Why the hell would I do that?!" Ikuto responded, quite offended. _"That's_ your image of me?_"_

Amu sighed in irritation, "Whatever," she stared at his slightly pouting face and voiced the question that had been nagging the back of her mind for quite a bit, "What're you doing here at this time anyway?"

She couldn't make out the light tinge of pink tinting his cheeks in the dark, as he turned his face away from her abruptly. "That… isn't any of your business."

"You're hiding something, aren't you?" Amu suspiciously and cautiously took a careful step towards him, tilting her head slightly to see if she could catch a glimpse of the object held in his hands.

Ikuto immediately stood up and hid the clandestine object behind his back, taking slow, careful steps backwards, as he caught sight of an approaching Amu. "I thought I said this isn't any of your business!"

_'This is the first time I've seen him so flustered...'_ Amu thought_, 'This might be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. A _fun_ one, at that.'_

"You're right, it isn't," the rosette admitted, allowing Ikuto to sigh with relief, only for that relief to vanish into thin air as he heard her next words. "But don't think that's stopping me from butting into it."

"Amazing how you can say that so easily," Ikuto dryly commented.

"That's me."

"Don't I know it..." The dark-haired teen sighed hopelessly, before facing Amu once more, his dark tresses beautifully illuminated by the silvery light of the crescent moon, "Okay, look, I'm just... going to try this once more."

"Try _what_, exactly?" Amu narrowed her rich, honey-golden eyes in caution, but her inquiry was ignored.

Ikuto coughed, as if starting an important speech, and began, with the sweetest politeness, "Amu..."

Amu absent-mindedly took a cautious step back, her gold irises narrowing even more. "...What...?"

"Dear Amu-chan..."

The 15-year old girl twitched slightly, stuttering, "W-what?"

"My dear, dear Amu-chan..." The sugary, lovestruck smile remained plastered onto his pale face.

"W-what?!" Amu started stammering, cheeks tainted red, her eyes darting back and forth in sudden alarm, "Spit it out! For God's sake!"

Ikuto's face was suddenly deprived of its previous smile, no signs of any emotion other than annoyance displayed. "Quit sticking your nose into _my_ business, Amu_-chan."_

"H-huh?" Shoulders slumping in surprise, Amu's nearly chalk-white face contorted in confusion, ignoring the still-existant blush, before her jaw dropped in bewilderment, and finally, her eyebrows furrowed together in irritation and anger. "Did I hear you right? _Punk_?"

"Oops..." Ikuto's face twisted into a smirk, which, Amu knew, was a cloak disguising nervousness and worry. For himself. "I'm guessing the 'Tough Guy' act didn't work??"

"Like _hell_ it did, you twit!" The pinkette stomped her way towards the blue-haired boy, his clear, blue eyes-- which looked slightly foggy due to the mist of the night-- widening in alarm, as he internally swore at himself.

"'Don't meddle in my business'?? Don't_ freaking_ meddle in my business?! Who do you think you are? Bill Gates?!" She ignored his calm yet persistent cries of 'won't it be better if we talk this out?' and continued, "I'll have you know I had _absolutely _no intentions of bumping into you here! In fact, I'd like _nothing_ better than to _get the hell away from you_! Just _what_ do you think of your--"

When her cold words suddenly halted flowing from her harsh mouth, Ikuto opened one of his eyes that had closed during a sigh and followed her shocked gaze to something behind him.

"What in the...?" Amu's confused words were coupled with Ikuto's murmured 'uh oh...' and the unwanted widening of his eyes, especially after hearing the withdrawn girl's next words.

"_Cat food_...?"

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A pair of pure, golden eyes shot open in alarm and shock, sweat beading down the girl's damp forehead, as she flung herself off the previously comforting bed with horrified gasps and wide eyes.

Relaxing her stiff position once she darted her eyes back and forth, realizing her location, Rima Mashiro raised a faintly trembling hand to wipe the sweat off her forehead. After a few seconds of breathing deeply in an effort to calm herself, she shot her gaze towards Amu's bunk, and found her previous breathing exercises useless in front of the panic she felt welling up inside her.

Without another moment to waste, she dashed forward towards a soundly sleeping Yaya, grabbing a hold of her shoulders in panic and shaking them as hard as she possibly could.

"Yaya!" Rima felt pathetic tears gathering at the corner of her eyes when she realized the sleepy ginger-head's eyelids wouldn't budge. "Yaya! Yaya, wake up! Please! Please, I'm begging you! Get up!"

She closed her mouth reluctantly as she heard her own voice becoming panicky. Removing her hands from Yaya's shoulders, she clutched them to her chest in worry.

"What do I do?" Rima whispered to herself hopelessly, "Amu... she could be... kidnapped, or... or worse, _abducted_. What if... what if she's..."

"Great," Rima jerked up her head to raise her heavily concerned eyes at a shadow lurking near Yaya's bed that she had failed to notice before. "What's wrong with you _now_? Lost your doll or something, I'm sure."

Failing to recognize his face, her mouth immediately twisted into an unusual scowl, her mind conjuring up the idea of the shadow being Amu's so-called 'kidnapper'.

"You..." Rima immediately flung herself at him in uncontrollable rage. "What did you do to her?! I'll claw out your eyes if you don't tell me! I swear I will!"

"What's with you?!" He tightly clutched her wrists as she struggled wildly against him. "I sacrifice my sleep to see what _stupidity_ you're commiting now and you _attack _me?!"

_'Eh?' _Rima ceased her struggling, as her eyes blinked up at the figure. "I'm sorry... _what_?"

"It's _me_, you twit!" When Rima finally caught faint traces of a pair of striking hazel-coloured eyes focused on her, burning in frustration in the darkness, her horror doubled.

"Uh... N-Nagihiko-san...?" she squeaked, terrified. His tense silence saying 'I was already in a horrible mood...' confirmed her assumptions.

"Oh my God!" She jumped away from him, as if he was the plague, examining him for any bruises or scratches.

"'Oh my God' is right."

"I-I'm so sorry! So, so sorry!"

The dark-haired male sighed in irritation, exasperated. "Would you forget the useless apologies," he eyed her irately and scowled, "and mind telling me just_ what, _exactly, you were trying to do?" He pointed at an asleep Yaya, his gaze scorching Rima accusingly.

The reminder of Amu's disappearance made tears well up in the poor girl's eyes all over again.

"N-Nagihiko!" Rima blubbered, "A-Amu! She... she's not here! What do we d-do?! And... and... Yaya! Sh-she's not waking up either! Who do I--?! How-- how do--?!"

"Is that it?" Nagihiko's question remained unanswered, due to Rima's tears blocking her ability to speak. Thus, he sighed in annoyance once more.

And, finally, landed an earth-shattering kick on Yaya's bunk.

Rima raised her head from her hands, which were now soaked with her tears, when the ear-splitting sound of Yaya's bed scraping against the floor reached her ears.

With an abrupt shout, the previously-slumbering girl's eyes shot open, as she gasped audibly.

"W-what...?" Yaya sat up, her ginger-brown hair whipping her face as she sharply turned her head left, then right. As she caught sight of Nagihiko standing near her bed, leg still raised in a kicking position, her wide, hazel-coloured orbs narrowed in animosity.

"I'll kill you..." she whispered threateningly, "I'll freaking _strangle _you! Do you even _know _how much concealer I'm going to have to apply to cover these bags under my eyes?!"

"I'm not dumb like you, thanks. And if you want to '_strangle_' anyone," Nagihiko retorted back, reminded of the bags under his own eyes, "Feel free to grab _her _neck." He pointed at Rima.

"R-Rima-tan...?" After turning on the idle night-lamp seated on her bedside table, Yaya rushed over to Rima when she spotted her dried tear tracks.

"What in the world...is going on here...??" Yaya grabbed her shoulders gently and pulled her into a consoling hug, before a certain thought struck her like lightning, and her cold, hazel eyes turned towards Nagihiko.

"YOU!" Her accusing finger was swiftly pointed at a nonchalant Nagihiko leaning against the wall. "What the hell did you do to her?!"

His back was straightened, and he met Yaya's irate gaze with a shocked one of his own.

"_Me_?!" He barked indignantly, "Why do _I _always get blamed for all the crappy stuff done in this hellhole?! I didn't do anything!"

"Says _you_!"

"Yeah, says _me_!"

It's as if the actual purpose of the entire episode was forgotten.

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A fuming Ikuto Tsukiyomi frowned upwards at the innocent, velvety night sky, his left eyebrow twitching irritably every once in the while, as he desperately attempted to ignore the bright-eyed 'kid' beside him. She had her back turned to him, with her pale, slender fingers squishing her mouth.

However, he could _still _hear her muffled laughter quite clearly.

"Will you _quit it_ already?" Ikuto bit out through clenched teeth, still opting to avoid looking in her direction, "I'm a sissy boy, wuss, wimp, yadda yadda yadda. I get it now, so will you please _shut up_?"

"I... never said... that..." Amu's rebuttal was squeezed in between laughs.

"Okay, so I gave a kitten _food_," After a cutting look from her, he corrected himself, "Fine, whatever. I _specifically _bought food for a kitten. So? Sue me. It was only one night."

"Do you take me for an idiot, Ikuto?" Amu questioned, eyebrows raised in obvious sarcastic disbelief. "I can tell you've come here before. I don't know _when_, or how many times, but I _do_ know that you _have_."

After a few seconds of silence-- accusatory on Amu's part, and defending on Ikuto's-- a defeated sigh was heard from him, as he rested his head against his folded arms, staring up at the midnight-black sky once more.

"Okay... I give. You caught me. Happy?" Ikuto admitted reluctantly.

Amu kept her sturdy gaze on the blue-eyed player for a moment longer, before she turned her head and assumed the same position as him, allowing a comfortable silence to wrap around both of them.

"Calm down," she proclaimed after a few quiet moments, even though he looked, at that moment, like the epitome of calm and collected, "It's not like I'm ever going to actually tell anybody."

"...Seriously?" Ikuto inquired softly, still not turning his head to look at her. "Or are you just... y'know... bluffing?"

Amu immediatly shook her head in response, and finally met his gaze eye-to-eye. "No way. Besides... thinking of what you did now... about your intentions... I guess, you actually kind of--"

"Let me guess," Ikuto interrupted, quite dryly, smiling humorlessly, "'_Suck_'?"

"Nah," For the first time, Ikuto had assumed, Amu smiled genuinely, somewhat carelessly, at him. "I was going to say '_rock_'."

And, for once, he knew she wasn't even joking.

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**Alryt, Nagi's character gets better from here on (although he was really ooc here) but I won't be updating for a while because:**

**1) School's starting tomorrow**

**2) I'm going to have to give a lot more time to chapters now than usual.**

**On a side note:**

**Ok, I NEED to rant about this. My uniform SUCKS. It's plain white. FULL, PLAIN WHITE. with a yellow check collar. CAN U BELIEVE IT??? YELLOW CHECK!!!**

**Uhm, yea, I'm done. And one more thing: Anybody else here dying waiting for Skip Beat! chapter 144? ****I'm thinking about uploading the pics of the ORIGINAL characters in this story. Waddya think?**

**NOOOOOOOOOOO!!! Im sorry to all who reviewed for the last chapter!!!! I won't be able to reply to ur reviews ryt now. THIS THING GOT ERASED AND I HAD TO REWRITE IT ALL OVER AGAIN! I'm so, so, so sorry. I kno it's not fair, but I promise i'll reply in the next chapter! Please forgive me, minna-san!**


	8. Chapter 8

Disclaimer: I do not own SC. Only the plot.

Reply to reviews for chapter 6:

**GoldenDragon326: Thank you very, very much for reviewing. I appreciate it ^.^ And as for ur question: Amu stiffened up because she isn't used to being shown signs of affection like hugs. Obviously, if u don't get love from ur family, who DO you get it from? Please enjoy this chapter!**

**RandomlyBoredWolfy: Thanks a bunch for your support =D I'll be sure to try and update as much as I can!**

**sylvanicara: Really??? Is that true?? O.O Correct me if I'm wrong, but does that mean your B-day is on the 13th of sep? AWESOME. I'll be sure to dedicate a chapter to you then! For sure!**

**HlorkexD: Thank u for reviewing first of all =) Next, Amuto's definitely be on it's way soon. Actually, there's some of it in this chap too! And there'll definitely will be more in the next one! Please enjoy!**

**HeartsTamago: --sniff-- really, you guys give me WAY too much credit. Half of it goes to u anyway. I'm touched. Oh, and as for Nagi, let's see, I'm sure the original character isn't too far off. Just fix a few quotes and rewrite a few scenes, and that should do the trick (btw, you can ask me as many questions as you want. No way would I ever mind)!! **

**xXbunnyholicXx: Amu's past history still isn't COMPLETELY revealed, so please look forward to it!! And the ooc-ness? Well, I really AM glad u don't mind, though I wouldn't blame u at all if u did anyway -.-' And I definitely give u credit for the dance idea. When I thought of it, i was really reluctant to stick it in, but wen u gave me the same idea, u kinda convinced me to do it =D Enjoy!**

**TsukiyomiAlikutoMissaWatusi: Thank you for taking out enough time to give me your opinion. And like I said, more of Amu's past is yet to be revealed, so I hope u look forward to it ^.^ SC chapter 43 WAS heaven, wasn't it? Well, for amuto fans anyway. But I'm still dying for Chapter 44 ryt now T.T **

Reply to reviews of chapter 7:

**sylvanicara: Unfortunately, you're right. It DOES mean there'll be less updates than before --sigh-- that's y I'm giving u guys another early chapter. Be prepared for a long wait -.-' Hontou ni gomen...**

**RandomlyBoredWolfy: Last day of August?? O.O Lu-cky! Even though i suppose the uniform's not the best -.-' Still, u kno, it's something to be appreciated. U kno what my old one looked like? Yellow check shirts with a dark blue collar and white pants. BLECH! Anyway, enough of my ranting, please enjoy!**

**xXbunnyholicXx: Thank u =D Nagi ought to get a little mad after being woken up for no reason, no? --shakes head-- poor boy... As for amutoness and rimahikoness, I'll try pitching in as much as I can at given moments :) BTW, Nagi's line made ME laught pretty hard too, wich is kinda wierd considering I wrote it -.-' Ah, well. A month?? You'd really wait that long??? U guys are way too nice!! I know for a fact this fic isn't as good as u make it out to be. However, if u enjoy reading, then i'll enjoy writing it =D**

**TsukiyomiAlikutoMissaWatusi: Mou, Ikuto feeding a kitty really makes u wanna glomp him, doesn't it?? And thank u for wishing me luck, school was pretty bearable :D**

**yuz: Lol, poor kitty indeed =D Huge eagle, huh? Exotic ;) Good to kno I have allies! Please enjoy this chapter!!**

**in-death-we-live: Thank you whole-heartedly for that review! I'll try putting in as much amuto as possible, as according to the situation. Believe me, I'm a HUGE amuto fan myself, I can understand how you feel ;D**

**HeartsTamago: I think your wishing me luck as had it's effect. The day didn't go perfect (it's SCHOOL after all) obviously, but i didn't have to spend the day scrutinizing the clock, so thanks =) As for the original characters, i'll try uploading them on my profile. Actually, I really want you guys see them myself, so i'll upload lots of 'em! Individuals, together, all kinds! Please check them out if u get the chance ^.^ And thank u for the advice, it's extremely helpful!!!**

**The Sky's Bouquet: If ooc-ness bothers u, then i hope u'll be happy to kno that i'll be fixing it soon, Sora-chan (Hopefully, i can call u that)! But it's gud to kno that this fic's an exception to ur dislike of ooc in characters =DDD Glad u like it, and hopefully u'll enjoy this chapter too!!! **

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"How long are going to wait for me to apologize?" Amu Hinamori turned over a page of her horror/mystery novel, never even batting an eyelash towards the fuming ginger-head sitting all the way across the room. "I told you: I'm not doing it."

"You're _really_ messed up, you know that?" Yaya Yuiki uncrossed her arms, directing an upset glare towards Amu. "You got us really worried last night. And you don't even bother to apologize."

"Worried? For _what_?" Amu unhooked her ankles and slammed her book shut in annoyance. "It was only... what? 11:30 or something? 11:45 at most. What's the big deal? And I expected _you_, of all people, to be a hard core party animal, at the very least. Since you_ are _Yaya Yuiki, after all."

"Curfew was at 9:00, Amu," Yaya retorted, carrying the most serious face Amu had ever seen on her, "And I may be a party animal, but I'm _definitely _no rule-breaker."

"...Whatever." Amu gave up on the matter after a few seconds of staring and silence.

"I'm serious, Amu," Yaya, however, was not willing to let the issue go so easily. "You threw the entire dorm into complete chaos," she snapped, "And let me just say, it sucked like _hell_."

"Oh yeah," Amu bit back sarcastically, "Because the world _totally _gets thrown into pandemonium when I don't stay in this crappy joint like a cute, little princess, yeah?"

"Is that _sarcasm _I detect?"

Yaya sighed in exasperation at the new voice that entered the conversation, while Amu gritted her teeth in response to it.

"As if you even _care_," the pale pink-haired girl narrowed her dark-looking, honey-coloured eyes at Nagihiko Fujisaki. "Stay out of this."

"You're right, I don't." Nagihiko shrugged carelessly, "I just feel like pissing you off for what you did yesterday."

"What's _up _with you?!" Amu banged her fist down on the bed, leaning forward to stare at Nagihiko eye-to-eye in animosity, "You really _are _pissing me off!"

"Amu, don't take your anger out on Nagi. He helped out in calming down the situation a bit too," Yaya declared boldly, paying no heed to Amu's indignant glance at her, "Though I admit, he did it in a pretty _pathetic_ manner."

Nagi rolled his hazel eyes, not even bothering to hide the action. "So you didn't get your _'beauty sleep'_," he commented dryly, "Oh, the _tragedy, _I say."

"Quit it," the hazel-eyed ginger-head snapped back, "It's not funny, Nagi."

She then turned her head to face Amu once more, placing her hands on her hips, her lips tightly closed into a thin line. "And _you_!" Yaya adressed her by accusingly pointing a perfectly-shaped, french-manicured finger nail at her. "What do you have to say for yourself?!"

Luckily, before Amu had the chance to answer, the dormitory's door burst open, and a yawning, sleepless Ikuto Tsukiyomi walked in nonchalantly, scratching the back of his head, as he trudged forward and dumped the bookbag he was carrying over his shoulder near his bed.

"Man..." he mumbled, throwing himself on his single-bed, "I feel like a freaking _zomb_--"

"It's his fault." Amu pointed a finger at Ikuto in the same manner Yaya had pointed hers at Amu.

Ikuto's tired eyes snapped open immediately, as he heard the accusation, propping up on his elbows, with a rather clueless look on his face.

"...What the hell??" Ikuto furrowed his eyebrows as he caught Amu, Yaya and Nagihiko staring at him expectantly.

"Let's put it simply..." Nagihiko sarcastically smirked, not at all believing Amu's blame on Ikuto, and interrogated, "Ikuto-san, did you happen to abduct Hinamori-san last night or not?"

"What?!" Ikuto repeated, his face contorting into a mixture shock, disbelief, confusion and disgust, while Yaya laughed humorously at Nagihiko's statement.

"Nice way to put it," Yaya commented, her small shoulders shaking with laughter. She turned her head towards Amu, ginger-coloured pigtails bobbing up and down beautifully. "Isn't it, Amu-chin?"

The latter hid her face behing a pale, out-stretched hand. "I thought I told you to stay out of this," she said to Nagihiko, words coming out slightly muffled and vague.

The four roommates heard a faint knock from behind the door, along with a muffled "can I come in?" in which they recognized to be Rima Mashiro's voice.

"Rima, it's _your _dorm!" Yaya shouted back with a laugh, hoping her voice would be able to reach the bright-golden eyed girl standing timidly behind the door. The door creaked open quietly, and a small pair of feet stepped in after Rima's head had peeked inside once.

"You're acting like this is the Teacher's Lounge or something, Rima," Amu smiled faintly and pulled the timid blonde in. "I was waiting fo--"

"Great! Rima-tan can decide on this!" Yaya interrupted Amu's half-spoken sentence. She sat up excitedly, her two ponytails bouncing up and down as her eyes sparkled blindingly at a confused Rima.

"Okay," Amu shrugged in an easy-going manner, not at all bothered. "Fine with me. Let Rima decide whether I get punished or forgiven. How about it, Rima?"

"It's alright. You won't get punished, so don't worry, Amu."

A prickling feeling was aroused in the back corner of the pink-haired girl's mind, as she found something unusual in Rima's strangely calm, collected face and unusually expressionless eyes, but was ultimately ignored.

"So there." Amu's pale, triumphant face was viewed to all. "You have your deci--"

"'Punished' is too soft a word, don't you think?" Amu's pale pink locks slapped her face, in a way that could perhaps be perceived as mocking, as she turned around to face Rima, who, with her arms crossed calmly, was burning a scalding hole into Amu's honey-golden orbs with her own. Amu failed to hide her flinch, as Rima continued, "'Torture' would be a much more appropriate term, no?"

Amu ignored Nagihiko's shocked, somewhat admiring gaze, but unfortunately, couldn't restrain herself from flinching harder as she heard Ikuto's discreetly murmured ''burn''.

"Help me out here, will you?!" Amu shouted angrily with an underlying tone of desperation. Ikuto raised his head and simply pointed a questioning finger at himself as he heard the yell undeniably aimed at him.

"Yes, _you_!" The rosette confirmed, twitching. "_You're_ the one who got me into this mess, remember?! Now get me out!"

Raising an eyebrow, he quoted Amu's words from the night before, "'I'll have you know I had _absolutely _no intentions of bumping into you here! In fact, I'd like _nothing_ better than to _get __the hell away from you_!'" The blue-haired male quoted, imitating Amu's tone of voice surprisingly well. "'Get you out'. Right. Sure. No problem, perverted kid."

And just like that, his eyes drifted close again.

Nagihiko unsuccessfully muffled his laughter with the palm of his hand. His back facing Amu shaking unsteadily with laughter. Yaya's amused coughs were no help either. Amu's gritted her teeth the hardest she had ever gritted before.

"You listen to me, you perverted, sissy, mama's boy. And listen good. You hear me?" She walked over to his bed before pointing a trembling finger dangerously near to his now-opened eyes. "If _you _had bothered to remind me of curfew instead of pulling me into a stinking hole _with _you, then maybe these guys wouldn't be after my _freaking _he--" Her words were halted immediately by Ikuto.

When he bit her finger.

The room quieted down in less than a second. Nagihiko's muffled laughter, Yaya's amused coughs, Rima's angry protests, and, as planned, Amu's continuous ranting.

"..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

As Amu felt her finger warming up inside Ikuto's mouth, her mind finally began functioning after she felt his tongue lapping at her finger once.

"You..." she whispered slowly, her finger, still inside Ikuto's mouth, starting to tremble. "YOU PERVERT! I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU _DID _THAT!!!" She wasted no time in jerking her finger away and backing away with a tomato red face that none failed to notice. "GO TO HELL, YOU SICK, SICK, SICKO!!!"

Ikuto lowered his face into his palm, where his light, amused laughs weren't heard, although his teasing smirk was still quite visible.

"A-Amu-chin," Yaya barely recovered from her speechlessness, and watched as Amu stomped past her with a face still carrying a blush quite rich. "Wh-where are you going?"

"To wash my finger," the rosette replied. Yaya was thankful to notice that some of her anger had subsided, but was replaced by something she couldn't quite put her finger on. "And get rid of his sicko germs." Amu made sure she loud enough for Ikuto's ears.

Unfortunately, this only made him laugh harder.

Rima coughed in embarrassment with a light blush of her own, as Nagihiko whistled to himself, impressed.

Rima and Yaya flinched when they heard the bathroom door slam shut as loud as humanly possible.

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The unusally-loud sound of water rushing through the tap pounded in Amu's ears, as she stood in front of the marble sink motionlessly with one hand clutching the finger of another. Her eyebrows slowly lowered as she allowed a sigh to escape her lips.

Staring down at the clutched finger, a sign of hesitance crossed her contemplative, golden-coloured eyes.

Before she could give herself another chance to hesitate, she quickly jerked her finger under the rush of water, wildly shaking her head while doing so.

_'What are you _thinking, _Amu?' _she reprimanded herself, a slight, pretty pink blush gracing her pale cheeks with colour. _'I'm so stupid! Stupid, stupid, stupid!'_

Her chain of thoughts was abruptly broken by a loud knock on the door.

"Amu-chin!" Amu recognized Yaya's peppy voice from the other side of the door, "There was just an announcement! Could you hear it? The vice principal's calling all the students to the assembly grounds! Come out of there quick, will you?"

"You go on without me!" The rosette shouted back in response. She could faintly hear a ''you sure?" which she left unanswered, before her sharp ears caught the sound of several pairs of feet shuffling, along with the creak of the door before it slammed shut.

Sighing, she dragged her feet over to the polished, white bathtub, and seated herself at the edge.

Running a hand through her silky, pink locks, she mused, _'I feel confused.' _Her eyes grew cold and impatient. _'I do _not_ like feeling confused.'_

After a few minutes of thinking over her state of mind, the pink-haired teenager straightened her back when she caught the sound of the door creaking open again, and a flurry of voices entering her hearing range. Walking over to the door, she heard Yaya and Rima discussing something she strained to hear.

"Amazing! It'll be so, so fun!" Yaya excitedly started. Amu could imagine her clapping her hands together and her eyes shining. "Ne, ne, won't it be fun, Rima-tan?"

"I suppose," Rima nodded, "But... I don't really feel like going, at the moment... besides, I probably won't get a date in time anyway."

"Dates are no problem!" Yaya dismissively waved her hand, "I can just get some random date a day before the event, and you four can pair up! Nagi, you can go with Rima-tan, and Ikuto, you can take Amu-chin! Perfect-o!"

_'Wait... what??'_

"HOLD IT!" Four suprised heads whipped towards the bathroom door, slammed open. A disturbed Amu stood pridefully and stubbornly at the doorway. "HOLD IT RIGHT THERE!"

"Way to make an entrance, perverted kid," Ikuto remarked, grinning.

"_You're _the perverted one here, sissy boy," she retorted back in response. "And what's this about some crappy '_event' _that I have to go to. Together with _him, _none the less?"

"Ah. Right, you didn't hear about it..." Rima realized, her previous anger momentarily forgotten, "Basically, we were told about--"

"The most _fabulous, wonderful _and _exciting_ event to ever grace this _boring_ place labelled ''sch--"

"In a word," Nagihiko swiftly interrupted any further words from a sparkling Yaya, and opted to continue the explanation in her place, "A dance. It'll be held two weeks from now, so we have time to prepare."

"You're kidding," Amu uncharacteristically whined, seating herself on Rima's pale red single-bed, hands entangling themselves in her tresses. "_Dance_? Does that _suck_, _or _what?!"

"It's not _that _bad, Amu..." Rima sympathized with a slight smile, being able to relate to the dreadful emotion she was sure her pink-haired friend was going through. "We'll get through it, ne?"

"Well, whether we get through it or not," Yaya informed, winking, "We're still stepping into that dance hall. And, we know what_ that_ decision leads to, ne~?"

"Unfortunately."

"I'm guessing, yes."

"Alright-y then!" The pigtailed student gleefully exclaimed in uncontained joy, "Amu-chin, Rima-tan, time to hit a few stores~!"

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**Blah, this chappie was kinda boring, don't u think? Tell me, u guys think they're making any progress or just moving their feet at the same place. For some reason, I can't tell XD**

**On a side note:**

**1st day of school, kiddies. Booooooring. Only upside was that I got to see my classmates again. But im in a different section than my best friends T.T Hopefully, no unnecessary drama will start like it did last year. I always get dragged into the consequences of stupid decisions made by a particularly stupid friend...**

**Overall, it was boring. Well, at least we didn't hit the books yet :D As for animes, for some reason, I suddenly miss Special A T.T It was beyond amazing, really.**

**_A special thanks to xXbunnyholicXx for suggesting the idea of featuring a dance! Thank you very much!_**


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